Pope Francis apologized for the “evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,' acknowledging that the forced assimilation of Native peoples destroyed their cultures, severed their families and marginalized generations.
Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with indigenous communities, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit, at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church in Maskwacis, near Edmonton, Canada, Monday, July 25, 2022.
Clasping his hands under his chin, Francis prayed at a the cemetery near the site of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, now largely torn down, before being escorted by four chiefs to a gathering of thousands of Indigenous peoples. After traditional Indigenous hand drummer played and sang to welcome Francis, the pope prayed in silence and the sun peeked out after a morning of rain.
On arrival Sunday in Albert’as capital, Edmonton, Francis was greeted by representatives of Canada’s three main Indigenous groups — First Nations, Metis and Inuit — along with political and church dignitaries. At the welcome ceremony, Francis kissed the hand of a survivor of a residential school, Elder Alma Desjarlais of the Frog Lake First Nations, a gesture of humility and deference that has he used in the past when meeting with Holocaust survivors.
The first pope from the Americas was determined to make the trip, even though torn knee ligaments forced him to cancel a visit earlier this month to Africa. Francis, 85, has called it a “penitential pilgrimage” to help the Catholic Church reconcile with Native peoples and help them heal from what Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has said was “cultural genocide.”
As part of a lawsuit settlement involving the government, churches and approximately 90,000 surviving students, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. Canada’s Catholic Church says its dioceses and religious orders have provided more than $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions, and hope to add $30 million more over the next five years.