The press release said it is believed the remains are those of people from the bands of the Ktunaxa nation, which includes the Lower Kootenay Band, aqam and other neighbouring First Nation communities.

Pope Francis has agreed to meet survivors of the residential schools in December, amid calls for a papal apology for the Catholic Church’s role in the abuse and deaths of thousands of children.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said Francis had invited the delegations to the Vatican and would hold separate meetings with three groups – First Nations, Metis and Inuit – during their December 17-20 visit. The pope will then preside over a final audience with all three groups on December 20, the conference said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Vatican did not confirm the visit on Wednesday, but the Holy See’s in-house news portal reported on the bishops’ statement. The Canadian bishops said the trip was contingent on the pandemic and that the delegations would include survivors of the residential schools, Indigenous elders and youths, as well as Indigenous leaders and Canadian bishops.

In recent weeks, the discoveries of hundreds of unmarked graves at the sites of residential schools for Indigenous children have revived calls, including from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for the pope to make a formal apology.

From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend state-funded Christian boarding schools in an effort to assimilate them into Canadian society. Thousands of children died there of disease and other causes, with many never returned to their families.

Nearly three-quarters of the 130 residential schools were run by Roman Catholic missionary congregations, with others operated by the Presbyterian, Anglican and the United Church of Canada, which today is the largest Protestant denomination in the country.

The Canadian government formally apologised for the policy and abuses in 2008. In addition, the Presbyterian, Anglican and United churches have apologised for their roles in the abuse.

The Canadian bishops did not mention the demand for a papal apology in the statement, saying only that Francis was “deeply committed to hearing directly from Indigenous peoples.”

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Canada finds more graves at former school for indigenous children as China calls for rights probe

Canada finds more graves at former school for indigenous children as China calls for rights probe

It said he had personally invited the delegations of Indigenous and would use the meetings for “expressing his heartfelt closeness, addressing the impact of colonisation and the role of the Church in the residential school system, in the hopes of responding to the suffering of Indigenous peoples and the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma.”

A papal apology was one of 94 recommendations from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but the Canadian bishops conference said in 2018 that the pope could not personally apologise for the residential schools.

Pope Benedict XVI, who retired in 2013, met some former pupils and victims in 2009 and told them of his “personal anguish” over their suffering - but he offered no apology.

After last month’s discovery of the 215 bodies, Francis, too, expressed his pain and pressed religious and political authorities to shed light on “this sad affair.” But he did not offer an apology, either.

The Argentine pope, however, has apologised for the sins and crimes committed by the Catholic Church against Indigenous peoples during the colonial era conquest of the Americas. He begged forgiveness during a 2015 visit to Bolivia and in the presence of Indigenous groups, suggesting that a similar in-person mea culpa might be in the offing in December.

The Canadian bishops said they hoped the meetings would “lead to a shared future of peace and harmony between Indigenous peoples and the Catholic Church in Canada.”