ANOTHER mass grave of 182 children discovered at Catholic-run 'Indian' residential school in Canada as Pope Francis agrees to meet with survivors
Another 182 indigenous children's bodies have been discovered in a mass grave at a Catholic-run school in Canada amid calls for the Church to apologise for its role.
The latest discovery on Wednesday was made by an indigenous group using ground-penetrating radar at the former St. Eugene's Mission School in Cranbrook, British Columbia, which was operated by the Church from 1912 until the early 1970s.
It follows two similar findings at other church-run schools, one of more than 600 unmarked graves in Saskatchewan and another of 215 bodies in BC.
Pope Francis has invited survivors of the residential schools to meet with him at the Vatican in December, it was announced on Tuesday.
After graves were found last month, Francis expressed his pain and pressed religious and political authorities to shed light on 'this sad affair.' But he didn't offer the apology sought by First Nations and the Canadian government.
The native group which made the latest grim discovery, Lower Kootenay Band, said Wednesday that the atrocity was akin to the Nazis systematic killing of Jews.
A woman looks at tributes to the dead children at the memorial in Cranbrook, British Columbia, on Wednesday. Lower Kootenay Band said its ground-penetrating radar had discovered the remains of 182 children
People hug at the memorial outside the former St. Eugene's Mission School near Cranbrook, British Columbia
A cemetery close to the school in Cranbrook, BC, is pictured on Wednesday
Catholic priests with students at the St. Michael's Indian Residential School in Duck Lake, Northwest Territories, now Saskatchewan, Canada in 1900
It's believed the remains are those of people from the bands of the Ktunaxa nation, which includes the Lower Kootenay Band, and other neighboring First Nation communities.
Chief Jason Louie of the Lower Kootenay Band called the discovery 'deeply personal' since he had relatives attend the school.
'Let's call this for what it is,' Louie told CBC radio in an interview. 'It's a mass murder of Indigenous people.'
'The Nazis were held accountable for their war crimes. I see no difference in locating the priests and nuns and the brothers who are responsible for this mass murder to be held accountable for their part in this attempt of genocide of an Indigenous people.'
Pope Francis on Thursday at the Altar of Confession in Saint Peter Basilica in the Vatican
From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian boarding schools in an effort to assimilate them into Canadian society. Thousands of children died there of disease and other causes, with many never returned to their families.
Nearly three-quarters of the 130 residential schools were run by Roman Catholic missionary congregations, with others operated by the Presbyterian, Anglican and the United Church of Canada, which today is the largest Protestant denomination in the country.
The Canadian government has acknowledged that physical and sexual abuse was rampant in the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages.
Last week the Cowessess First Nation, located about 85 miles east of the Saskatchewan capital of Regina, said investigators found 'at least 600' unmarked graves at the site of a former Marieval Indian Residential School.
Last month, the remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, were found buried on the site of what was once Canada's largest Indigenous residential school near Kamloops, British Columbia.
A woman visits a memorial to the children on Wednesday
A child's writing attached to the memorial says: 'We are sorry for your loss we respect you. We hope you will get through it'
Teddy bears and shoes laid by the gates with a sign that says: 'Indigenous Lives Matter'
In recent weeks, investigators using ground-penetrating radar have reported finding hundreds of unmarked graves at the sites of three residential schools for Indigenous children. Pictured: Young students and their Catholic teachers in an undated photo at the Marieval Residential School in Saskatchewan
Prior to news of the most recent finding, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he has asked that the national flag on the Peace Tower remain at half-mast for Canada Day on Thursday to honor the Indigenous children who died in residential schools.
Louie said he wants more concrete action than apologies.
'I'm really done with the government and churches saying they are sorry,' he said. 'Justice delayed is justice denied.'
A papal apology was one of 94 recommendations from Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but the Canadian bishops conference said in 2018 that the pope could not personally apologize for the residential schools.
Since the discovery of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools, there have been several fires at churches across Canada. There has also been some vandalism targeting churches and statues in cities.
Four small Catholic churches on Indigenous lands in rural southern British Columbia have been destroyed by suspicious fires and a vacant former Anglican church in northwestern B.C. was recently damaged in what RCMP said could be arson.
Sophie Pierre reflects at the gates of the former St. Eugene's Mission School in Cranbrook, BC on June 30, 2021. As a child, Pierre was forced to live in the residential school for nine years, she is now the General Manager of the resort that took over the former school site
Pierre walks past a memorial outside the site of the former school in BC on Wednesday
On Wednesday, Alberta's premier condemned what he called 'arson attacks at Christian churches' after a historic parish was destroyed in a fire.
'Today in Morinville, l'eglise de Saint-Jean-Baptiste was destroyed in what appears to have been a criminal act of arson,' Kenney said in a statement.
RCMP said officers were called to the suspicious blaze at the church in Morinville, about 25 miles north of Edmonton, in the early hours of Wednesday.
Trudeau and an Indigenous leader said arson and vandalism targeting churches is not the way to get justice following the discovery of the unmarked graves.
'The destruction of places of worship is unacceptable and it must stop,' Trudeau said. 'We must work together to right past wrongs.?
Bellegarde said burning churches is not the way to proceed.
A historical photo from 1929 provided by the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (issued on 25 June 2021) shows students at the Delmas Indian Residential School in Delmas, Northwest Territories, now Saskatchewan, Canada
The remains of 215 children were discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia in May
Last week, the bodies of 715 more children were recovered from graves outside the former Marieval Indian Residential School - another Catholic-run institution in the Cowessess First Nation
'I can understand the frustration, the anger, the hurt and the pain, there's no question,? he said. 'But to burn things down is not our way.'
It came as officials announced that another 182 bodies had been discovered in unmarked graves at a school near Cranbook, British Columbia - following the recovery of more than 900 bodies at two other sites since May.
The Vatican didn't confirm the pope's visit on Wednesday, but the Holy See's in-house news portal reported on the bishops' statement.
The Canadian bishops said the trip was contingent on the pandemic and that the delegations would include survivors of the residential schools, Indigenous elders and youths, as well as Indigenous leaders and Canadian bishops.