A Canadian Indigenous delegation announced Tuesday it will travel next month to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis and discuss abuses at church-run residential schools.
The trip was originally scheduled for last December but was postponed due to Omicron fears.
Former students and representatives of the Assembly of First Nations, Metis National Council, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami are now scheduled to meet individually with the pontiff the week of March 28.
A final audience with the entire delegation is to take place on April 1.
“We remain committed to walking toward healing and reconciliation and very much look forward to the opportunity for Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers, residential school survivors, and youth to meet with Pope Francis,” the indigenous groups and the Canadian Catholic Bishops said a joint statement.
The trip was planned to help the Catholic Church rebuild bridges with Canada’s Indigenous communities after more than 1,300 unmarked graves were discovered at schools attended by Indigenous children as part of a government policy of forced assimilation.
Some 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were enrolled from the late 1800s to the 1990s in 139 of the residential schools across Canada, spending months or years isolated from their families, language and culture.
Many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers, and thousands are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.
A truth and reconciliation commission concluded in 2015 the failed government policy amounted to “cultural genocide.”
