PM Trudeau is calling on the Catholic Church to "step up" and take responsibility

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on the Catholic Church to "step up" and take responsibility for its role in Canada's residential school system.

Trudeau says as a Catholic he is deeply disappointed by the position the church has taken in dealing with the tragedy.

In what appeared to be a thinly veiled threat, Trudeau said he hopes the church bends to public pressure, before the government is forced to take the issue to court.

Indigenous communities have long sought an apology from the Pope for the institution's part in the government-sponsored, church-run schools for Indigenous children that operated for more than 120 years.

He notes that he personally asked the Pope in 2017 to consider an apology for the church's role in the schools where an untold number of Indigenous children were abused and many died.