Pope Francis issued a historic apology Monday for the Catholic ChurchSA国际影视传媒檚 cooperation with CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 SA国际影视传媒渃atastrophicSA国际影视传媒� policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed families and marginalized generations.

SA国际影视传媒淚 am deeply sorry,SA国际影视传媒� Francis said to applause from school survivors and Indigenous community members gathered at a former residential school south of Edmonton, Alberta. He called the school policy a SA国际影视传媒渄isastrous errorSA国际影视传媒� that was incompatible with the Gospel and said further investigation and healing is needed.

In the first event of his weeklong SA国际影视传媒減enitential pilgrimage,SA国际影视传媒� Francis traveled to the lands of four Cree nations to pray at a cemetery and then deliver the long-sought apology at nearby powwow ceremonial grounds. Four chiefs escorted the pontiff in a wheelchair to the site near the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, and presented him with a feathered headdress after he spoke.

SA国际影视传媒淚 humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,SA国际影视传媒� Francis said.

His words went beyond his earlier apology for the SA国际影视传媒渄eplorableSA国际影视传媒� acts of missionaries and instead took responsibility for the churchSA国际影视传媒檚 institutional cooperation with CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 SA国际影视传媒渃atastrophicSA国际影视传媒� assimilation policy, which the countrySA国际影视传媒檚 Truth and Reconciliation Commission said amounted to a SA国际影视传媒渃ultural genocide.SA国际影视传媒�

More than 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were forced to attend government-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.

Ottawa has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.

The discoveries of hundreds of potential burial sites at former schools in the past year drew international attention to the legacy of the schools in Canada and their counterparts in the United States. The revelations prompted Francis to comply with the truth commissionSA国际影视传媒檚 call for him to apologize on Canadian soil for the Catholic ChurchSA国际影视传媒檚 role in the abuses Catholic religious orders operated 66 of the 139 countrySA国际影视传媒檚 residential schools.

Some wept

Some in the crowd Monday wept as Francis spoke, while others applauded or stayed silent listening to his words, which were delivered in Spanish and then translated into English.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 something that is needed, not only for people to hear but for the church to be accountable,SA国际影视传媒� said Sandi Harper, who travelled with her sister and a church group from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in honor of their late mother, who went to a residential school.

Harper called the popeSA国际影视传媒檚 apology SA国际影视传媒渧ery genuine.SA国际影视传媒� SA国际影视传媒淗e recognizes this road to reconciliation is going to take time, but he is really on board with us,SA国际影视传媒� she said.

Many wore traditional dress, including colorful ribbon skirts and vests with Native motifs. Others donned orange shirts, which have become a symbol of residential school survivors, recalling the story of one woman whose beloved orange shirt, a gift from her grandmother, was confiscated at a school and replaced with a uniform.

Despite the solemnity of the event, the atmosphere seemed at times joyful: Chiefs processed into the site venue to a hypnotic drumbeat, elders danced and the crowd cheered and chanted war songs, victory songs and finally a healing song.

Chief Wilton Littlechild, who was a student at the Ermineskin school and later served on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, welcomed Francis at the start of the ceremony and told people the pontiff had understood their pain.

SA国际影视传媒淲e sincerely hope that our encounter this morning, and the words you share with us, will echo with true healing and real home through many generations to come,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Felisha Crier Hosein traveled from Florida to attend in place of her mother, who helped create the museum for the nearby Samson Cree Nation and had planned to attend, but died in May.

SA国际影视传媒淪orry is not going to make what happened go away,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut it means a lot to the Elders.SA国际影视传媒�

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who last year apologized for the SA国际影视传媒渋ncredibly harmful government policySA国际影视传媒� in organizing the residential school system, was also attending along with the governor general and other officials.

As part of a lawsuit settlement involving the government, churches and approximately 90,000 survivors, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 Catholic Church says its dioceses and religious orders have provided more than $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions and hope to add $30 million more over the next five years.

While the pope acknowledged institutional blame, he also made clear that Catholic missionaries were merely cooperating with and implementing the government policy of assimilation, which he termed the SA国际影视传媒渃olonizing mentality of the powers.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淚 ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

He said the policy marginalized generations, suppressed Indigenous languages, led to physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse and SA国际影视传媒渋ndelibly affected relationships between parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren.SA国际影视传媒� He called for further investigation, a possible reference to Indigenous demands for further access to church records and personnel files of the priests and nuns to identify who was responsible for the abuses.

SA国际影视传媒淎lthough Christian charity was not absent, and there were many outstanding instances of devotion and care for children, the overall effects of the policies linked to the residential schools were catastrophic,SA国际影视传媒� Francis said. SA国际影视传媒� What our Christian faith tells us is that this was a disastrous error, incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.SA国际影视传媒�

The six-day visit SA国际影视传媒� which will also include stops in Quebec City and Iqaluit, Nunavut SA国际影视传媒� follows meetings Francis held in the spring at the Vatican with delegations from the First Nations, Metis and Inuit. Those meetings culminated with FrancisSA国际影视传媒� apology April 1 for SA国际影视传媒渄eplorableSA国际影视传媒� abuses at residential schools and a promise to do so again on Canadian soil.

Francis recalled that one of the delegations gave him a set of beaded moccasins as a symbol of children who never came back from the schools, and asked him to return them in Canada. Francis said in these months they SA国际影视传媒渒ept alive my sense of sorrow, indignation and shameSA国际影视传媒� but that in returning them he hoped they can also represent a path to walk together.

By Nicole Winfield, Peter Smith and Rob Gillies of The Associated Press