More bodies found near Canada residential school as Pope Francis agrees to meet survivors
- The bodies were found close to the former St Eugene’s Mission School, which was operated by the Catholic Church from 1912 until the early 1970s
- Pope Francis has agreed to meet survivors amid calls for a papal apology for the church’s role in the abuse and deaths of thousands of children
A First Nations group in British Columbia, Canada said on Wednesday a search using ground-penetrating radar has found 182 human remains in unmarked graves at a site close to a former residential school that housed Indigenous children taken from their families.
It follows two other reports of similar massive findings at two other such church-run schools, one of more than 600 unmarked graves and another of 215 bodies.
In a news release, the Lower Kootenay Band said it began using the technology last year to search a site near Cranbrook that is close to the former St Eugene’s Mission School, which was operated by the Catholic Church from 1912 until the early 1970s.
It said the search found the remains in unmarked graves.
The press release said it is believed the remains are those of people from the bands of the Ktunaxa nation, which includes the Lower Kootenay Band, aqam and other neighbouring First Nation communities.