Journey Towards Reconciliation: Did the Pope’s apology matter to residential school survivors?

Credit: Global News

Months after Pope Francis came to Alberta and delivered a historic apology to residential school survivors for the role the Catholic Church played in the system, Global News spoke to Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors about the impact of the visit and what it may have done for the reconciliation process.

In “Journey Towards Reconciliation,” viewers will see and hear from people about what the July 2022 visit accomplished and what needs to happen now to come to terms with the residential school program, which began in the 1870s and did not come to an end until 1996.

Over those decades, more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were placed in residential schools across the country, often against their parents’ will.

They were forbidden from speaking their language or maintaining their culture.

Many were subjected to abuse of all kinds, and the schools saw high mortality rates.