Trigger warning: Some of the video is tough to watch as indigenous survivors talk about the abuse they experienced in Catholic Church schools. It’s heartbreaking.
The trip to Canada — which the Pope himself has called penance — is an attempt by the Catholic church to acknowledge the damage done to indigenous children who were taken from their families, banned from using their language, forced to abandon their culture and in many cases abused physically, sexually, and emotionally.
Over 150,000 Indigenous children were impacted across the country, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said as Canada observed it’s first national holiday honoring victims and survivors.
One survivor, now a senior, remembered that the nuns kept telling him to pray or he’s ‘go to Hell’ while the small child felt like he was already living in Hell.
