Following the discovery of the remains of hundreds of children at Catholic boarding schools in Canada, Pope Francis has received representatives of the country's Indigenous population at the Vatican.
According to the Holy See, 10 envoys of the Métis, eight of the Inuit and clergy representing the Canadian Bishops' Conference were present at Monday's meeting.
The Vatican said that Pope Francis wanted to listen and give space to the survivors' "painful stories."
In May last year, the remains of more than 200 children's bodies were found near a former boarding school in western Canada. Subsequently, hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered at similar institutions elsewhere in the country.
The Catholic Church administered the schools for centuries, using them to house Indigenous children who were removed from their families between the 17th century and the 1990s.
"The Métis people have already begun the difficult work of hearing the truth that our survivors and families carry with them," a Métis representative told reporters after the papal audience.
Now, she said, it is the Pope's turn to join in their work. "We are not here to celebrate our meeting with the Pope, we are here to celebrate standing together as one people," she continued.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded that the Pope come to Canada and apologise after the discovery was first made. In the coming days, Francis plans to meet other representatives of Canada's Indigenous people.
