section_path: Papacy (2013–2025)/Apologies toward Indigenous peoples
section_name: Apologies toward Indigenous peoples
paragraph_text: Apologies toward Indigenous peoples
  
  Early in 2022, Francis expressed "shame and sorrow" for the Catholic Church's role in abuses against the Indigenous peoples in Canada. Late, in July 2022, Francis made an apostolic journey to Canada, where he expressed sorrow, indignation, and shame over the church's abuse of Canadian Indigenous children in residential schools. Francis described the Canadian Catholic Church 's role as a " cultural genocide." He apologized for the church's role in "projects of cultural destruction" and forced assimilation. Near the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, the site of a search for unmarked graves, Francis said: "I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples." He visited the Ermineskin Cree Nation 's cemetery at its Maskwacis reserve. Francis promised a serious investigation into the history of abuse.