Canadians are sitting firmly on the fence when asked whether a papal apology for the sins of the residential school era would do any good in reconciling Indigenous Canadians with the immigrant majority. But Aboriginal Catholics are certain an apology from the Pope on Canadian soil would mark a new beginning after a long, sad history of colonization, racism and neglect.

OTTAWA – Canada’s bishops are being tight-lipped regarding a possible papal visit in the wake of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request that Pope Francis apologize in Canada for the Church’s role in the residential school scandal.

MANCHESTER, England – An English cardinal has apologized for the "hurt caused" to young unmarried mothers pressured by church agencies in the mid-20th century to surrender their children for adoption.

OTTAWA - While many within the Catholic Church and other denominations have apologized for their role in Indian residential schools, many are still awaiting the one voice that would speak loudest — Pope Francis.

VATICAN CITY - Two of the 13 final small-group reports of the Synod of Bishops for the family contained apologies: one for ways in which a lack of pastoral care may have contributed to the breakdown of marriages and one for "harsh and merciless" attitudes toward unwed mothers and their children, the divorced and homosexuals.

Among the action calls from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report on residential schools is an insistence that Pope Francis apologize in person to Canada’s aboriginal peoples.

OTTAWA - Calls for Pope Francis to come to Canada and personally apologize for abuses at Indian Residential Schools are “reaching for the moon,” said Archbishop Terrence Prendergast.

Latin American Church leaders apologized for historical complicity with colonial atrocities in the Amazon and called for a Church with an "Amazonian face" in a pastoral letter issued as negotiators from around the world met for a climate summit here.