Canada Indigenous leaders demand Catholic Church pay $60M before papal visit

TRENTON, Canada

Indigenous leaders are demanding a list of concessions before Pope Francis visits Canada, including CAN$60 million owed to Indian Residential School survivors, according to a Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) report Friday.

"The Catholic Church has very deep pockets and I'm sure they could pay all the compensation they owe, plus more..." said Saskatchewan Cree lawyer Eleanor Sunchild, who has acted for thousands of residential school survivors.

For years various Indigenous tribes and advocates, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have urged Pope Francis to come to Canada and apologize to Indigenous groups for the Catholic Church's role in abusing some of the 150,000 Indigenous children forced to attend the schools beginning in the 1820s. Calls for the Pope's visit intensified after hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered at school sites.

Earlier this year, Francis accepted the invitation, which is expected to take place sometime after Indigenous leaders travel to the Vatican for an audience with the Pope in December.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald said she will welcome Francis, but besides the apology, the church must return the land where the schools were situated to First Nations ownership and agree to a papal bill signifying that Indigenous People are guaranteed to be treated with respect.

“The Catholic Church must be accountable and acknowledge their responsibility for the great harm caused by their direct role in the institutions of assimilation and genocide that they ran,” Archibald told the Toronto Star newspaper.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission travelled all over Canada to hear stories from survivors of the 139 schools and their families and the commission's final report in 2015 called for an in-person papal apology on Canadian soil.

Former commissioner Marie Wilson said there must be full compensation for survivors before any visit by the Pope.

"It's just words unless it's accompanied by meaningful action. You must make tangible efforts to make amends. There's been a breach of that, so there has to be action," she told the Toronto Star.

TRENTON, Canada

Earlier this year, Francis accepted the invitation, which is expected to take place sometime after Indigenous leaders travel to the Vatican for an audience with the Pope in December.

Former commissioner Marie Wilson said there must be full compensation for survivors before any visit by the Pope.

"It's just words unless it's accompanied by meaningful action. You must make tangible efforts to make amends. There's been a breach of that, so there has to be action," she told the Toronto Star.