Pope Francesco apologized Monday for the treatment of Christians with indigenous peoples in Canada and for "the ways in which many members of the Church have cooperated in culturally destructive projects."

"I ask forgiveness, especially for the ways in which many members of the Church and religious communities have cooperated, as well as the indifference which they have shown, in these projects," the Pope said in a speech to members of the First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples in Masquasis, Alberta. culture-destroying and the forced assimilation of the governments of the time, culminating in the system of compulsory boarding schools.”

He spoke of the role of assimilation policies in the systematic marginalization of indigenous peoples, in addition to the "distortion and abolition of" indigenous languages ​​and cultures "through the system of compulsory boarding schools".

The Pope mentioned that children were subjected to physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse, and that they were kidnapped far from their homes and families when they were young.

Pope Francesco apologized 3 times during his speech, which was translated into English.

On Sunday, the Pope began his historic 6-day visit to Canada on a "repentance" journey, as he described it, in which he will express his grief and apologize for the violations committed by the church-run boarding schools against indigenous children.

Pope Francesco will preside over a mass tomorrow, Tuesday, at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton (Anatolia).

The journey of "repentance" or "atonement" centers around the painful chapter in the history of "boarding schools" for indigenous children, a cultural assimilation system that caused the deaths of at least 6,000 people between the end of the 19th century and the 1990s and traumatized for generations.

The Canadian government had paid billions of dollars in compensation to former students, and officially apologized 14 years ago for the establishment of these schools, which were set up to "kill the Indian in the heart of the child."

On Tuesday, Pope Francesco will lead a mass at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton before heading to Lake St. Anne, which is the site of an annual pilgrimage.

After that, it will move to Quebec on Wednesday before its final stop, Friday, in the city of Iqaluit (Nunavut), which is located in the northernmost part of Canada in the Arctic archipelago.

The Argentine pope appeared in a wheelchair due to his suffering from pain in the knees, and his program was reduced to limit his movements.