Rev. Kevin Annett

'In the wake of a growing child abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic church, and last October's historic rally outside the Vatican to remember the victims of church crimes, members of The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) will return to Europe next week to help convene an international Tribunal into crimes against humanity in which Pope Joseph Ratzinger is personally implicated. 

 Rev. Kevin Annett, who has spear headed a movement to bring to justice the churches that caused the death of thousands of aboriginal children in Christian residential schools in Canada, will lead a delegation of the FRD to Italy on March 29 that will include Cree nation elder Lillian Shirt and Ojibway nation elder Charles Cook, both of whom survived incarceration and torture in Catholic residential schools.

The FRD delegation will make a formal presentation to a human rights committee of the Italian parliament and will seek its endorsement for an international inquiry into the death of more than 50,000 children in the predominantly Catholic-run Indian residential school system in Canada.

The delegation will also conduct a sacred ceremony and memorial service for all victims of the Roman Catholic church outside the Vatican in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday, April 4, at 11 am.