Listening to 'evil' committed at Catholic-run schools in Canada felt like slaps: Pope

Pope Francis, who returned on Saturday from a six-day trip to Canada, has said that listening to tales of abuse at Catholic-run schools from Indigenous victimsfelt like "slaps". Speaking at the weekly general address at the Vatican on Wednesday, the pontiff said, "I assure you that in these meetings, particularly the last one, Ifelt those people's pain like slaps."

He further said that the church needs toface up to its responsibility for such institutions that abused children.

During his Canada visit, the pope met representatives of the First Nations, Metis and Inuit people and apologised to them for what he termed "evil" committed at Catholic-run residential schools,AFP reported.

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From late 1800s to 1996, around 150,000 Native children in Canada attended residential schools run by the church. Most of these students were subjected to physical and sexual abuse and reportedly died of disease, malnutrition and neglect.

The matter made headlines after hundreds of unmarked graves were found on the sites of these schools.Over 1,300 such graves were discovered at these sites till last year.

The 85 year old, who termed the horrific incident a “genocide,” said, listening to elderly people who lost their children and don't know where they ended up because of the assimilation policy, was "a painful moment".

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During his trip, Pope Francis had also apologized for Catholic Church’s role in forcing Native people to attend Indigenous residential schools to assimilate into the Christian society.

Ottawa has also admitted that Indigenous students were beaten for speaking their own language at these schools, andsexually abused.

(With inputs from agencies)

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