‘Man of compassion:’ Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors on Pope Francis

By Brittany Hobson It’s been nearly three years since Pope Francis travelled to Canada to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools. But for some Indigenous survivors, memories of the historic day remain fresh in their minds. “His statements of apology still have a lot of impact to a lot of us residential school survivors,” Piita Irniq said in an interview following news of the pope’s death Monday. The pontiff was 88. Irniq was in Iqaluit in July 2022 for the pope’s final stop in Canada as part of what was described as his “penitential pilgrimage.” The former politician was forced to attend a residential school in Chesterfield Inlet, in what is now Nunavut, where he was stripped of his Inuit culture and language and was abused by…

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