These statements were made during several weeks of service in the Roman Catholic Church of St. Emile and were included in a video on its Facebook page.

During the Mass on July 10, Father Rhéal Forest was temporarily placed in St. Emile, while Father Gerry Sembrano, the permanent pastor of the parish, was on vacation. He said that boarding school survivors lied about being sexually abused, so they would receive more money with the federal government during the settlement process.

“If they want extra money, from the money given to them, they sometimes have to lie – lie that they have been sexually abused, and there is another 50,000 dollars,” Forest said.

“If you are poor, it’s hard not to lie,” he continued, adding that all the aboriginal people he knew during his 22 years of working in the north loved boarding schools.

Watch | Forest’s comments on boarding schools:

Forest admitted that some people were treated badly, but said that some of them were not caused by nuns and priests, but by the night watchman.

In its 2015 report, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission stated that “more than 40 former boarding school staff have successfully convicted of sexual or physical abuse of students.” As of January 31 of that year, it stated that it had received 37,951 incidents of physical and sexual abuse in boarding schools. Injury claims.

In another mass, Forest described the words “Save the children” when passing by another local church that was destroyed.

He said he wanted to scare the vandals away with a shotgun and shoot if they didn’t escape.

“When I passed by, I thought of anger. If I had a shotgun at night, I would see them, and I would say,’Bang!’ Just to scare them, if they didn’t run away, I would shoot them and kill them. ,” Forest said with a smile in his sermon on July 18.

Then he quickly turned around and said: “But it won’t help. If this is not good, I will go and chat with them.” He continued to accuse the media of making saboteurs believe that the Catholic Church killed the children in the boarding school.

CBC News has requested an interview on the forest. The Archdiocese of St. Boniface stated that it is considering the request.

After CBC Manitoba flagged the video, the Archdiocese learned of these comments on Monday. St. Emile broadcasts its services regularly.

Daniel Bahuaud, spokesperson of the Archdiocese and Archbishop Albert LeGatt, said that the video about the forest had been deleted and apologized for the comments. The archdiocese also prohibits public preaching and teaching in the forest.

Bahuaud said in an email that LeGatt and the Archdiocese “completely denied” Forest’s comments.

“We deeply regret the pain they may cause to many people, especially the indigenous people, and more specifically, the survivors of the boarding school system.”

Bahuaud said in an interview that the further punishment of Forest will be decided by LeGatt.

‘Disgusting view’

Aboriginal leader, activist and former Christian minister Kyle Mason said he was “surprised by anyone inside” [the Catholic Church] It may be so disjointed and outdated, and there are these very disgusting views within themselves. “

Mason went on to say that if the church “really cares about Canada’s reconciliation, they will work enthusiastically to ensure that all their priests and all staff are aware of this, and there will be no room for such comments.”

Mason said he was happy to hear that Forest was no longer allowed to preach publicly or participate in church education activities. He said that before being allowed to resume public office, he would like to see Forest learn more about the real situation of the boarding school.

Watch | Full review of the Forest Boarding School on July 10:

Father Rhéal Forest discussed the boarding school in detail in a sermon held at St. Emil’s Catholic Church in Winnipeg on July 10. 11:39

“I will strongly encourage [the church] Use this as their teaching moment to ensure that anyone — priests, nuns, staff, whatever they are, no matter what their leader is in their ranks — understands the boarding school, Sixties Scoop and all our others The way is to see the impact of these atrocities in our society,” he said.

When asked about the effect of Forest’s words on the settlement, Mason was hopeful.

“In my opinion, reconciliation cannot be stopped. Sometimes it can be slow, but it cannot be stopped.”

Anyone affected by the boarding school’s lingering influence, and those affected by the latest report, can get support.

A nationwide Indian boarding school crisis hotline has been set up to provide support to boarding school survivors and other affected people. People can call the 24-hour national crisis hotline: 1-866-925-4419 for emotional and crisis referral services.

Do you have information about unmarked graves, children who have never returned home, or boarding school staff and operations? Email your tips to the CBC Investigative Boarding School’s new Aboriginal leadership team: [email protected].