Many buildings and monuments were painted red during demonstrations on Canadian National Day (July 1). At least ten Catholic churches were attacked in color in Calgary, news channel CBC reported yesterday (local time). The words “we were children” and “our lives matter” were written on the doors of the church.

There were also fires in the past few days at various Catholic churches that were on reservations for Indigenous peoples of Canada. Officials suspect arson in some of these cases.

The protest action relates to recent graves found in church re-education homes for Indigenous children in Canada, it was said. In the past few weeks, in rapid succession, Indigenous communities reported the discovery of bodies of nearly 1,000 children from Indigenous families near former re-education centers.

Most recently, on Wednesday, 182 unmarked graves of alleged indigenous people were found near St. Eugene Mission School near Cranbrook in British Columbia.

abuse and abuse

Between 1830 and 1998, it is estimated that about 150,000 Indigenous children were placed – often forcibly – in reeducation homes in Canada. Many of these 139 houses were run by the Catholic Church. There the children should be introduced to the “Christian Civilization” on behalf of the state. Often they were not allowed to speak their mother tongue. Many of them were abused or abused.

In a face-to-face meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently asked Pope Francis to apologize to indigenous peoples in Canada. On Tuesday (local time) the Bishops’ Conference of Canada announced that a group of Canadian Indigenous representatives will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican from December 17 to 20. It is about promoting “dialogue and healing”, it said.