MASKWACIS| Pope Francis on Monday asked for “pardon for the evil committed” against the natives in Canada, in particular in the boarding schools for Native American children run by the Church, and lamented that some of its members had “cooperated” in policies of “destruction cultural”.

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“I am distressed. I ask forgiveness,” the pope told thousands of natives in Maskwacis, western Canada. Referring to a “devastating error”, he recognized the responsibility of the Church in this system in which “children suffered physical and verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse”.

More details to come.