Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on the Catholic Church to “take responsibility” for its role in Indigenous boarding schools after a mass grave of children at a Kamloops Indian school in British Columbia was discovered in May. It is reported by the BBC.
The remains of 215 children were found in the “mass grave”, which caused outrage in the Canadian society. Some of the deceased were about three years old. Kamloops boarding school was one of the many institutions that the authorities, together with the Catholic Church, created for the forcible assimilation of indigenous peoples. Children were forcibly taken from their families and placed in boarding schools. The school was opened in 1890 and closed in 1978.
In 2015, Indian children were found to have been abused and sexually abused, and 4,000 people died of illness from neglect, accidents and beatings.
According to Trudeau, the church refuses to publish its records of these schools.
“As a Catholic, I am deeply disappointed with the position that the Catholic Church has taken now and has taken over the past many years,” Trudeau said in a comment to reporters.
According to the prime minister, in May 2017, he visited the Vatican and demanded from Pope Francis an official apology for the ill-treatment of his students.
He also asked for access to church archives to find information on exactly how more than 4,100 disciples died. The deaths are now believed to have been due to illness and malnutrition.
Trudeau also said that if necessary, the government is ready to take legal action against the Catholic Church.
“Before we start suing the Catholic Church, I really hope that religious leaders will understand that they need to get involved in this,” Trudeau said.
He urged Canadian Catholics to “reach out to local parishes, bishops and cardinals and make it clear that we expect the church to take responsibility for its role in this and help grieving people.”
United Nations human rights activists have called on Canada and the Catholic Church to investigate the mass grave.
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