Pope Francis arrived in Canada on Sunday on a “penitential” trip aimed at reconciliation with Indigenous people for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools.
CBC News reported that when the Pope landed in Edmonton on Sunday, he was greeted with an honor drum song, sang by a group from Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation as he sat between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor Gen. Mary Simon at an airport hangar.
Treaty Six Grand Chief George Arcand Jr. gave the Pope a beaded medallion and was handed an unknown item in return.
Francis kissed the hand of residential school survivor Alma Desjarlais of the Frog Lake First Nation as she welcomed the Pope along with Grand Chief Greg Desjarlais of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations.
The Pope will visit a former residential school and meet with indigenous peoples on Monday. He is also visiting Quebec City and Iqaluit, the capital of the territory of Nunavut. He will depart on Friday, according to Reuters.
The Pope told reporters on the plane before it landed in Edmonton that the six-day visit must be handled with care.
I hope, with God’s grace, that my penitential pilgrimage might contribute to the journey of reconciliation already undertaken. Please accompany me with prayer,” said a message on the Pope’s Twitter account.
CTV News Canada notes that Pope Francis will be staying at the St. Joseph Seminary while on the first leg of his tour in Alberta. The Pope plans to visit the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School in the community of Maskwacis, south of Edmonton, on Monday.
This is where the Pope will deliver his first public statement in Canada and is expected to apologize to Indigenous Peoples for the abuses they have suffered.
Treaty Six Grand Chief George Arcand Jr. said last week that survivors have been carrying unimaginable trauma for many generations. The Pope’s acknowledgment of their pain is a crucial step.
“This is an important historical moment for survivors of the residential school system and the harm caused by the Catholic Church,” Arcand Jr. said.
