The Catholic bishops of Canada pledged on Monday (September 27th) to contribute 30 million Canadian dollars to support the initiatives in favor of the survivors of the residential schools after making a
“formal apology”
last week.
Read alsoCanada shocked by the discovery of 751 new graves near a residential school for natives
These funds will be released over five years to
"remedy the suffering caused by residential schools in Canada," said
the bishops in a statement released Monday. It will be about
“supporting programs and projects dedicated to improving the lives”
of residential school survivors and their communities, said Bishop Raymond Poisson, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).
Last Friday, the bishops expressed their
"deep remorse"
and offered
"their unequivocal apologies"
to indigenous peoples after the discovery in recent months of more than a thousand graves near former boarding schools run by the Catholic Church.
Once again, the bishops recognize in the statement released Monday the existence of a
"historical trauma and still present, caused by the residential school system
.
"
Read alsoNative residential schools in Canada: Pope Francis expresses his "pain"
In the country, very marked by these revelations, many voices were raised during the summer to ask for an apology from the Church and even from the Pope himself.
In total, more than a thousand anonymous graves near former Catholic Indian residential schools were found this summer, shedding light on a dark page in Canadian history and its policy of forced assimilation of First Nations.
Some 150,000 Native American, Métis, and Inuit children were forcibly conscripted into 139 residential schools across the country, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture.
