Pope Francis is set to arrive in Alberta, Canada, on Sunday to make good on his earlier promise to apologise to residential school survivors on their lands for the Catholic Church’s operation of residential schools throughout Canada.
According to reports, the Pope will make three stops on his five-day tour to Edmonton, Alberta, the province that hosted the most residential schools in Canada.
The Pontiff will also make a stop to Quebec City, Montreal, for “an eastern hub”; and Iqaluit, Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, home to the largest congregation of Inuit people in Canada.
Indigenous participation in each stop on the Pope’s journey across the country, titled “walking together,” is encouraged, according to information by the Vatican.
The Pope’s first stop in Alberta will be at Maskwacis, the grounds of one of the largest residential school sites in the country, Ermineskin Residential School.
The Vatican is encouraging residential or day school survivors to connect with their local National Indigenous Organisation for information about priority seating allocated to elders, survivors and knowledge keepers.
Pope Francis committed to the trip in October of 2021, on invitation from Canada’s Catholic Bishops and following increasing pressure to address the Catholic Church’s role in the residential school system.
For over a century, more than 150,000 indigenous children in Canada were forcibly removed from their families to attend boarding schools meant to strip them of their language, culture and self.
The Catholic Church was responsible for running nearly 75 per cent of the 130 residential schools operated across Canada. (NAN)
