Pope Visits Canada, Apologizing For The Church’s Indigenous Abuse Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:00) This is a papal trip like no other. Pope Francis arriving in Canada to apologize to its indigenous peoples. Three survivors meeting the Pope at the airport, representing the thousands who were abused at Catholic run residential schools sanctioned by the government. Frances will visit the site of the former Ermineskin Residential School. Speaker 2: (00:21) What's it like to be back here? Speaker 1: (00:24) Where I met Deborah Parker, Cara Currie Hall and Josephine Smalls. Smalls went to the school. Josephine Smalls: (00:31) There's a lot of little spirits in this building. Yeah. Speaker 1: (00:37) Do you all feel them? Speaker 4: (00:38) You can feel it. You feel it, and you walk lightly. Speaker 1: (00:41) Events that never left Smalls or her ancestors represented by the empty chair. Josephine Smalls: (00:47) My hearing was totally destroyed by my grade five teacher and I was sexually molested here by a priest. Speaker 1: (00:54) She received a reparation payment from the government, but is not healed. The Pope is coming here to say he's sorry. Josephine Smalls: (01:01) Yeah. Speaker 1: (01:02) Is that enough? Josephine Smalls: (01:03) For me, it probably would've meant more to these people that are not here because they're the ones that suffered more than I did. Speaker 1: (01:12) 150,000 indigenous children were forced to attend the schools over a century. 6,000 died. The Catholic church ran most of the schools in Canada, as well as some in the US for Native Americans. The horror part of Parker's family legacy. Deborah Parker: (01:29) They took away my grandmother's songs. They beat her. They sexually assaulted, the nuns sexually assaulted my mother. Speaker 1: (01:37) These are the difficult stories the Pope will hear on this trip at a time when he's having trouble walking. NBC's Claudio Lavanga is traveling with the Pope. Claudio Lavanga: (01:47) Despite his mobility problems, he still came to the back of the plane with the help of walking stick to greet those journalists traveling with him. Speaker 1: (01:56) Now the Pope begins an apology tour for the sins of the church, anxiously awaited by the wounded. Josephine Smalls: (02:03) It's time to heal. Speaker 1: (02:05) Survivors stress this is not the end of the process, but the start. And it will continue tomorrow when the Pope comes to this Edmonton Catholic Church with a significant indigenous community. Speaker 7: (02:19) Thanks for watching our YouTube channel. Follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.