Pope apologises for ‘devastating’ school abuses in Canada

The morning after he arrived in the country, Francis travelled to the lands of four Cree nations to pray at a cemetery

Pope Francis meets indigenous communities (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Pope Francis has apologised for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “devastating” policy of indigenous residential schools.

He said the forced assimilation of native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed their families and marginalised generations in ways still being felt today.