Pope lands in Canada, set for apologies to Indigenous groups [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By NICOLE WINFIELD, ROB GILLIES and PETER SMITH

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Pope Francis began a historic visit to Canada on Sunday to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses by missionaries at residential schools, a key step in the Catholic Church’s efforts to reconcile with Native communities and help them heal from generations of trauma.

Francis kissed the hand of a residential school survivor as he was greeted at the Edmonton, Alberta, airport by Indigenous representatives, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary Simon, an Inuk who is Canada’s first Indigenous governor general.

The gesture set the tone of what Francis has said is a “penitential pilgrimage” to atone for the role of Catholic missionaries in the forced assimilation of generations of Native children — a visit that has stirred mixed emotions across Canada as survivors and their families cope with the trauma of their losses and receive a long-sought papal apology.

Francis had no official events scheduled Sunday, giving him time to rest before his meeting Monday with survivors near the site of a former residential school in Maskwacis, where he is expected to pray at a cemetery and apologize.



Pope Francis kisses hand to Canadian Indigenous woman as he arrives at Edmonton's International airport, Canada, Sunday, July 24, 2022. Pope Francis begins a weeklong trip to Canada on Sunday to apologize to Indigenous peoples for the abuses committed by Catholic missionaries in the country's notorious residential schools. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-canada-religion-edmonton-alberta-b4831ad22056aa2f862f04464966b66e