Canada’s leading Catholic prelate has voiced hope Pope Francis’ visit to the country this week will strengthen efforts at reconciliation with Indigenous communities, and help “turn a page” in order to move forward together.
Canada’s leading Catholic prelate has voiced hope Pope Francis’ visit to the country this week will strengthen efforts at reconciliation with Indigenous communities, and help “turn a page” in order to move forward together.
After a flight of more than 10 hours from Rome, Pope Francis landed in Edmonton and met briefly at the airport with Indigenous leaders, Canada’s governor general and prime minister before heading to the local seminary for a rest.
Pope Francis’ July trip to Canada was born out of his meetings with the nations’ Indigenous people and was planned around encounters with them, and if the pontiff’s words “have value elsewhere,” like throughout the Americas, all the better, said the director of the Vatican press office.
With Pope Francis’ visit to Canada just days away, the country’s bishops have announced that a special fund to support healing and reconciliation efforts with indigenous communities has begun accepting proposals.
When Pope Francis travels to Canada to apologize to Indigenous communities for the way the Catholic Church joined efforts to uproot them from their traditional culture and spirituality, their traditions will be on full display.
Asking for prayers ahead of his visit to Canada July 24-29, Pope Francis described the trip as a “penitential pilgrimage” as part of a commitment to healing and reconciliation with the country’s Indigenous people.