Pope's 'Pain' Over Bodies Found At Canadian Indigenous School

VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Francis expressed his pain Sunday over the discovery of the remains of 215 children in a mass grave at a former indigenous boarding school in Canada run by the Church.

But he did not go so far as to offer the apology that many people, including the Canadian government, have been calling for over the unfolding scandal which has left Canada deeply shocked.

I follow with pain the news coming from Canada about the shocking discovery of the remains of 215 children, he said, following Sunday prayers at Saint Peter's Square.

The discovery of the remains of the children last month sent shockwaves through Canadian society.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday called on the Catholic Church to take responsibility for its role in the deaths at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.

Trudeau has already promised concrete action from the government and urged his fellow Catholics in Canada to make it clear to the Church that they expected its full cooperation too.