Pope Francis has wrapped up his trip to Canada, where he apologized for the abuse of Indigenous children who were separated from their families and sent to church-run residential schools, where they faced psychological, physical and sexual violence. Thousands of children died. On his return flight home, the pope described the forced assimilation of Indigenous children to be a form of genocide.

Pope Francis: “I apologized. I asked forgiveness for this work, which was genocide. I condemned this, taking children away and trying to change their culture, their minds, change their traditions, race and an entire culture.”