Pope Francis departed Rome on Sunday for a week-long trip to Edmonton, Canada, where he's set to apologize for the Catholic Church's role in the abuse of Canadian Indigenous children in residential schools.
Highlights of this day in history: The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan during World War II; LBJ signs the Voting Rights Act; Pope Paul VI dies; Scientist Alexander Fleming born; Funk singer Rick James dies. (Aug. 6)
Pope Francis has spoken of his "sorrow, indignation and shame" over the Catholic Church's role in the abuse of Canadian Indigenous children in residential schools, as he kicked off a weeklong "penitential pilgrimage" to the country.
Pope Francis himself arrived in Canada this week with a singular purpose — to apologize on Canadian soil directly and personally to indigenous peoples for the Catholic Church's role in the government funded residential school system.
Pope Francis issued a letter to Catholics around the world Monday condemning the crime of priestly sexual abuse and its cover-up and demanding accountability, in response to new revelations in the US of decades of misconduct by the Catholic Church.
