PAPAL PLANE, JULY 30 (ANSA) – In his traditional chat with reporters on the papal plane, Pope Francis said on Saturday (30) that the murder of thousands of Indigenous Canadians in boarding schools and Church-run institutions Catholic was a “genocide”. “.

“It’s true, I didn’t use the word because it didn’t come to mind, but I described what genocide is. I apologized to them, for this work, and it’s a genocide. For example, I condemned it: taking the children away, changing the culture, changing the mentalities, changing the traditions, changing a race, shall we say, a whole culture. If there is a technical word it’s genocide, but I ended up not using it because it didn’t come to my mind. But yes, I can easily say yes, it was real genocide,” said the journalists who accompanied the trip back to the Vatican.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio went to Canada and, in a series of events with different local cultures, asked forgiveness for the murder of many children and adolescents committed in these boarding schools, in addition to the forced process of Christianization of these peoples.

Recently, several mass graves found hundreds of their remains and sparked a nationwide uprising against the Catholic Church.

In addition to those who died, students at these schools – who were completely separated from their families – suffered sexual and physical abuse at the hands of teachers and it is estimated that approximately 150,000 Indigenous Canadians passed through these boarding schools until the 1970s.

Resignation and other visits – During the conversation with the journalists, other recurring themes of interviews and celebrations were discussed.

Chief among them is the question of a possible resignation as a Catholic leader due to the health problems Francis suffers from, including a problem with his right knee which prevents him from walking long distances. Despite this, the Argentine canceled international trips and participation in some Catholic rites in the Vatican and Italy.

“I don’t believe I can maintain the same pace of travel as before. I believe that with my age and with this limitation, I have to preserve myself a little to be able to serve the Church. Or, on the contrary, I can think of stay a little longer on the side. It’s not a disaster, no. If you can change the pope, it’s not a problem,” he said on the plane.

When asked again if he was considering stepping down, like his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict 16, the pontiff again denied.

“Have I ever thought about stepping out? The door is open. It’s one of the normal options. But, until today, I haven’t pushed that door. I haven’t thought about this possibility. But, maybe that doesn’t mean that the day after tomorrow I’ll start thinking about it. But then, honestly, no,” he said.

Saying the trip to Canada was ‘kind of a test’ and that he ‘couldn’t do this trip in this state’, Francis said he might need to ‘change up’ the style of his international visits a bit. to “pay the debt” they have with certain countries.

“I think we have to limit these efforts a little. The knee operation cannot be done because, in my case, there is the problem of general anesthesia which I underwent 10 months ago. It took six hours of anesthesia and I still have traces of it playing with the anesthesia and that’s why the surgery is inconvenient.

But, I will try to continue to travel to be close to people because it is a way of serving,” he added.

Regarding his next international trips, the Catholic leader repeated that he wanted to visit kyiv, Ukraine, a country at war since February, as well as Kazakhstan – “which would be a quiet trip, without much movement” – and also to South Sudan – “because it is a journey that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of the Church of Scotland, all three together, must make”.

“Then DR Congo will stay for next year because now it’s the rainy season. Let’s hope. I really want to go there, but let’s see what my leg will say,” he said. declared. The trip to Africa should have taken place in July. (ANSA).

See more news, photos and videos at www.ansabrasil.com.br.