VANCOUVER — The ground-penetrating radar specialist who studied the area near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia has released more details about her findings.

For educator Vanessa Pinto, the discovery of unmarked graves outside of residential schools has only strengthened her resolve to raise awareness of Indigenous history, culture and perspectives in the classroom.

Half the country is mad and three-quarters of Canadians are depressed by the discovery of 215 children in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Residential School.

Over the past few weeks, social media has exploded with anger, sadness and shock as the bodies of hundreds of Indigenous children have been found buried at several former residential schools across Canada.

It is heartening to see Catholic clergy calling out the stream of inaccuracies and exaggerations around the Church’s responsibility for the residential schools debacle.

Somehow a story about hundreds of unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School became a story about what Pope Francis should do, not a story about the lives lost or why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau only rushed to provide money for documenting such graves when Kamloops was in the headlines, five years after he first promised to do so.

One of the greatest gifts a human being can give is the gift of acknowledgement: a nod, a smile, saying the person’s name out loud.

The discovery of 215 bodies of children in unmarked graves on the site of the former Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia understandably triggered a national response of outrage and mourning. Less understandable is why this particular discovery has unleashed an outpouring of grief and accountability by community leaders and politicians when the evidence of these atrocities is so well known, and when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report highlighted this issue for special mention.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi called upon the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) and the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) to devise new names for Bishop Grandin High School and Langevin School respectively.

A meeting between Pope Francis and a delegation of Canadian Indigenous people at the Vatican is being planned and expected before the end of the year.

In morning headlines and evening newscasts the 215 unmarked graves on the Tk’emlups te Sewepemc First Nation are a scandal and a tragedy. While Catholics certainly know this to be true, the Church must also confront its theological failures, several theologians told The Catholic Register.

Residents of my Edmonton neighbourhood are setting up front yard signs of solidarity to honour the 215 former students at the Kamloops Residential School whose remains were found outside the school. As well, demonstrations were held in some centres regarding the detection of these unmarked graves. This discovery has moved people in a way that earlier revelations about the schools did not.

Indigenous elder and lay minister Rosella Kinoshameg reflects on the Gospel of Matthew’s parable of the treasure discovered hidden in a field as she looks to find healing and meaning in the wake of the latest trauma to hit Indigenous communities in Canada.

“Sorry” is a powerful word, but it is only a start to heal the deep wound inflicted by residential schools.

Cardinal Thomas Collins said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s call for the Catholic Church to step up its responsibility for residential schools is “unhelpful” to the reconciliation process.