Pope Francis considered this Saturday that Boarding schools for Indian children in Canada were “a genocide” and admitted, in statements to the press, that he can no longer travel at this speed due to his health problems.

During a press conference on board the plane on the way back to Rome, after a six-day visit to Canada, where he apologized to the Native American populations, Francis considered that the compulsory boarding schools for indigenous children in Canada, administered mainly by the Catholic Church, it was equivalent to a “genocide”.

I didn’t say the word [durante a viagem] because it didn’t come to mind, but I described the genocide. And I apologized, I asked forgiveness for this process that is a genocide,” the Pope said.

“Kidnapping children, changing culture, changing mentality, changing traditions, changing a race, so to speak, an entire culture,” added the sovereign Argentine pontiff in reference to boarding schools for indigenous children (First Nations, Métis and Inuit). established in Canada between the late 19th century and the 1990s.

Yes, genocide is a technical word. I didn’t use it because it didn’t occur to me. But I described what, in reality, is genocide,” he insisted.

The Pope recognizes limitations, admitting the possibility of “leaving aside”

Pope Francis, 85, affected by severe knee pain that forced him to move in a wheelchair, confided to journalists that “he could no longer travel” at the same pace as before, also mentioning the possibility of “becoming aside”. .

I don’t think I can keep up the same pace of travel as before. I think that at my age, and with these limits, I must save myself to serve the Church, or on the contrary, think about the possibility of putting myself aside, ”she said.

The Pope considered that the possibility of resigning, like his predecessor Benedict XVI, “is not a disaster” and reiterated that the door was “open”.

“But to this day I haven’t pushed that door. As they say, I didn’t feel it, think about that possibility. But that doesn’t mean the day after tomorrow I won’t start thinking about it,” she said.

Is Pope Francis preparing to resign?

Francis also renewed his desire to go to kyiv, without further details, and confirmed his plan to travel to Kazakhstan in September to attend a meeting of religious leaders.

He also indicated that he would visit South Sudan “before” going to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), trips postponed indefinitely due to his health condition.

During this six-day visit, the 85-year-old pope seemed weakened but nonetheless waved to the crowd aboard the “popemobile.”

The Pope asked “forgiveness” on several occasions for the role played by “many Christians” in this system of acculturation of Indian children, established in Canada by the governments of the time, but administered mainly by the Catholic Church.

Between the late 19th century and the 1990s, around 150,000 indigenous children were forcibly recruited into more than 130 of these institutions. There they were isolated from their families, language and culture, and were often victims of violence. At least 6,000 children died in these institutions.

Asked about the “Doctrine of Discovery”, the 15th century papal edicts that authorized European powers to colonize non-Christian lands and peoples, the Pope considered this doctrine of colonization “erroneous” and “unjust”.

“This mentality that we are superior and the natives don’t matter is serious. For that, we have to work in this direction. Go back and clean up everything that was wrong, but realize that the same colonialism also exists today,” he replied.

In Quebec and Iqaluit, in the Arctic archipelago, Canadian natives displayed signs and banners during meetings with the Pope calling for the “repeal” of this doctrine.