Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The leader of the Roman Catholic community, Pope Francis, visited Canada on Monday (25/7/2022). During this visit, the pope apologized for the role of the Catholic Church in eradicating local indigenous culture in the past.
Quotation ReutersThese apologies were made by the pope during his visit to the town of Maskwacis. The town was once the site of two schools which served to accommodate the natives.
“The Church’s role in schools and the forced cultural assimilation it seeks to perpetrate is a grave crime and a catastrophic mistake,” he said. ReutersTuesday (26/7/2022).
It is known that during this time of cultural abolition by the Catholic Church, as many as 150,000 indigenous children were separated from their families and taken to an educational institution such as a school.
He said many were starved, beaten for speaking their native language and sexually harassed in a system that the Canadian Human Rights and Reconciliation Commission called “cultural genocide”.
Indigenous leaders as well as school survivors say this apology move is a positive step towards reconciliation. But they asked for a more active role of the church and the government to improve relations after this incident.
“You can’t just say ‘I’m sorry’ and just walk away. There has to be effort and there has to be more meaning behind the words,” Nakota Sioux Nation Leader Tony Alexis said.
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