Pope says bid to erase Indigenous culture in Canada ‘was cultural genocide’

Pope Francis speaks to journalists aboard the papal flight back from Canada (Guglielmo Mangiapane/ Pool via AP)

Pope Francis has agreed that the attempt to eliminate Indigenous culture in Canada through a church-run residential school system amounted to a cultural “genocide”.

Speaking to reporters while en route home from Canada, Francis said he did not use the term during his trip to atone for the Catholic Church’s role in the schools because it never came to mind.