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The Story

Pope Francis apologized to Indigenous communities in Canada.

Give me the background.

From the 1880s to the 1990s, an estimated 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada were separated from their families and put in boarding schools. They were forced to assimilate into mainstream Canadian culture. But that’s not all: A 2015 report from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that more than 4,000 Indigenous children in those schools died from neglect or abuse. Indigenous communities have found hundreds of unmarked graves. 

Go on…

Yesterday, Pope Francis apologized on the grounds of a former residential school in Canada for the church’s role in the “catastrophic” residential school system. And begged for “forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians” against the communities. That’s because the majority of schools were run by the Catholic Church. 

How did people react?

Many were moved — and Indigenous leaders gave Francis a headdress. One critic said it isn’t going to make what happened go away, but that it reportedly “means a lot to the elders.” Others reportedly want more than ‘sorry.’ And are asking for financial compensation from the church. It comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized last year for the “incredibly harmful government policy.” And earlier this year, Canada acknowledged its long history of violence toward Indigenous communities by agreeing to pay $31.5 billion to Indigenous children and families — and to help reform the child welfare system.

Yesterday, Indiana lawmakers began a special legislative session to debate a near-total ban on abortion. It’s the first session of its kind since the US entered the post-Roe era. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to the state ahead of the session to host a roundtable with Indiana Democrats. We spoke with VP Harris about how the battle in Indiana highlights the “health care crisis” unfolding in the US.

Q: What's your message for people who feel frustrated by their state government’s response following the reversal of Roe v. Wade?

A: “This is a health care crisis and it demands a response that recognizes that now is the moment and the time to stand up. We need to elect a pro-choice Congress…We need to recognize local elections matter. In these states where they're criminalizing health care providers, pay attention to who you elect as your prosecutor [and] as your DA. Pay attention to the fact that in a lot of the states that are restricting a woman's right to make decisions about her body, they're also restricting access to the voting booth. Who your secretary of state [is] matters, who your governor [is] matters. All of these elections matter.”