APRIL 1, 2022. Pope Francis has made a historic apology to Indigenous peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools. About 150,000 children were taken from their homes. Many were subjected to abuse, rape and malnutrition in what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 called “cultural genocide”. CNN REPORT
Evelyn Korkmaz, one of ECA’s Founding Members and a St. Anne’s residential school survivor said “I am disappointed in his apology. There was no mention of the lost souls who were recovered on the residential school grounds across Canada. There was no mention of releasing the documents, so we can identify those that never made it home. There was no mention of reparations for the harm the Church has caused and done everything they could to annihilate and destroy our indigenous people. There was no mention of releasing monies promised in the IRSSA signed in 2006.. it is very difficult.”