A Canadian indigenous delegation announced Tuesday it is postponing a trip to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis to discuss abuses at church-run residential schools, due to Omicron fears.
“Particularly for many elderly delegates as well as those who live in remote communities, the risk of infection and the fluid nature of the evolving global situation presents too great a threat at this time,” the group said in a statement.
Along with Canadian bishops, the Assembly of First Nations, Metis National Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami said they hoped to reschedule the visit “to the earliest opportunity in 2022.”
Pope Francis has also said he would visit Canada at an unspecified date as the Catholic Church seeks to rebuild bridges with the country’s indigenous communities after more than 1,300 unmarked graves were discovered at three schools attended by indigenous children as part of a government policy of forced assimilation.
Some 150,000 Indian, Metis and Inuit children were enrolled from the late 1800s to the 1990s in 139 of the residential schools across Canada, spending months or years isolated from their families, language and culture.
Many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers, and thousands are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.
A truth and reconciliation commission concluded in 2015 the failed government policy amounted to “cultural genocide.”
