Churches in Sudbury to honour the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were found in B.C.

Sudbury -

Sudbury churches have planned a special acknowledgement Friday afternoon for the 215 children lost in residential schools.

Friday marks one week since the horrific discovery in British Columbia of the remains of 215 former residential school students. That's why Church of the Epiphany is planning to honour the victims by ringing the church bell 215 times, one for each student found last week.

The bells will ring “at 2:15 p.m., in honour of those 215 children who went missing and murdered at the Kamloops residential school in British Columbia,” said Rev. Elizabeth Green, with Church of the Epiphany.

Green said it’s important for the Anglican Church to recognize its part in this tragedy.

“In the 160 years of the horrific legacy of residential schools in Canada that were funded by the federal government along with the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church, and the Anglican Church has a significant part to play in that horrific legacy,” said Green.

“Many residential schools were run by Anglican churches. Our Christian tradition did do damage. So, we own that, we are ashamed of it, and we are sorry.”

Also joining in on the ringing of the bells is Christ the King, a Catholic church in Sudbury. The reverend said there was no question about wanting to be involved.

“What happened is very devastating, even to the church because we out to promote life to encourage people to love life,” said Father Raymond Akor. "So, the church has taken it upon itself to join in the campaign for peace and also to really emphasize with the families, community and the world at large because it’s a loss to the world."

Green said all churches in the downtown area are encouraged to ring their bells Friday afternoon to join in honouring the victims discovered last week.