Pope to meet with Canada indigenous amid demands for apology

Pope Francis has agreed to meet in December with Indigenous survivors of Canada’s notorious residential schools

ROME -- Pope Francis has agreed to meet in December with Indigenous survivors of Canada's notorious residential schools amid calls for a papal apology for the Catholic Church’s role in the abuse and deaths of thousands of native children. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said Francis had invited the delegations to the Vatican and would meet separately with three groups — First Nations, Metis and Inuit — during their Dec. 17-20 visit. The pope will then preside over a final audience with all three groups Dec. 20, the conference said in a statement Tuesday. The Vatican didn’t confirm the visit 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. In recent weeks, investigators using ground-penetrating radar have reported finding hundreds of unmarked graves at the sites of two residential schools for Indigenous children. The discoveries — more than 600 graves in one school, 215 bodies in another — have revived calls, including from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for the pope to make a formal apology.