Christian missions as imperialism through schooling
The discovery of more than 1,000 indigenous children’s bodies on the peripheries of boarding schools in Canada came as a shock to many.
But it should not.
After all, it is only another chapter of indigenous peoples’ suffering at the hands of western imperialism, which often used Christianity and missions as a tool to advance its material interests and spread ideologies in extra-western territories.
The enmeshed relationship between Christian missionary education and western imperialism is solid and old.
It dates to the mid-16th century when the Catholic Church recognized the usefulness of education to defend and advance the religion during the counter-reformation era.
Around the same time, the Catholic Church’s aspiration of revitalizing foreign missions corresponded well with the imperialist ambitions of France, Spain and Portugal -- especially Franciscan and Jesuit missions operated in a vast area, from the Near East, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, to the Americas, Far East, under the direct diplomatic protection and economic support of imperialist powers.
https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/christian-missions-as-imperialism-through-schooling-3575770