Justin Trudeau blasts Catholic Church for ignoring crimes against indigenous children

After the discovery of the remains of 215 students, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on June 4 called out the Catholic Church for refusing to apologize for its part in operating many of the country’s residential schools for indigenous children. Remains of children as young as three were found buried on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. The unmarked graves were unearthed at the former residential school, which was an institution that forcibly separated indigenous children from their parents to assimilate them into Canadian society. “As a Catholic, I am deeply disappointed by the position the Catholic Church has taken now and over the past many years,” Trudeau told the reporters. He added, “We expect the Church to step up and take responsibility for its role in this”. The school was one of the 130 schools which hosted 150,000 indigenous children. It was run by the Catholic Church from the late 19th century to the 1960s and was then taken over by the federal government, and later closed in the 1970s. While the schools argued that they were imparting knowledge, a report in 2015 found that the children were subjected to abuse, malnutrition and rape and at least 4,000 of them died while being at these reform institutes. Trudeau said many are “wondering why the Catholic Church in Canada is silent, is not stepping up”. The Canadian PM also described visiting the Vatican in 2017 and asking Pope Francis for an apology at that time. He said he’s still waiting. Trudeau added that he hoped the Vatican would apologize or else he would “have to start taking the Catholic Church to court”. UN calls for investigation Meanwhile, a team of nine UN Human rights experts have urged the Canadian government and the Vatican to hold a swift and thorough investigation into the discovery of unmarked graves in British Columbia. In a statement, experts urged the authorities to conduct forensic examinations of the remains found as well as to expedite the identification of the missing children. “It is inconceivable that Canada and the Holy See would leave such heinous crimes unaccounted for and without full redress,” they said. “For far too many years, victims and their families have been waiting for justice and remedy. Accountability, comprehensive truth, and full reparation must be urgently pursued”, the human rights experts underscored. (Image: AP/TWITTER)

Advertisement

Justin Trudeau blasts Catholic Church for ignoring crimes against indigenous children

Justin Trudeau called out Catholic Church for refusing to apologize for its part in operating many of the country’s residential schools for indigenous children.

Advertisement