By a vote of 269 to 10, MPs backed a motion today to invite Pope Francis to Canada so that he can apologize in person for the Roman Catholic Church's role in the Indian residential school system. The church has never fulfilled its commitment to raise $25 million for residential school survivor healing programs. The Catholic Church, through its various religious orders, ran 72 per cent of Indian residential schools, which were created to erase Indigenous cultures and assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream Canadian society. About 150,000 Indigenous children attended residential schools during the century-plus the institutions operated in Canada. In 2009, Pope Benedict did express "sorrow" on behalf of the Catholic Church for "deplorable conduct" by some members in their treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools.

Source: CBC News May 01, 2018 19:48 UTC