Pope to visit Canada to help reconciliation over indigenous schools scandal

FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Indigenous Services Marc Miller lay flowers at a memorial in honour of victims, near the location of what is believed to be more than 200 unmarked burials sites of indigenous children who were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, during a visit to the Tk'emlups te Secweepemc community in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, October 18, 2021. Picture taken October 18, 2021. Adam Scotti/Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to visit Canada, where he faces calls for him to apologise for the Catholic Church's role in former schools for indigenous people where children were subjected to abuse, rape and malnutrition.

The Vatican said in a statement on Wednesday that Canada's bishops had formally invited him to make a visit which would be part of a "process of reconciliation" with indigenous peoples.