Pope Francis visits Canada to discuss the abuse of Indigenous peoples in Catholic-run schools
Pope Francis began a tense visit to Canada on Sunday to apologise to Indigenous peoples for abuses committed by missionaries in residential schools.
It's a key step in the Catholic Church's efforts to reconcile with Native communities and help them heal after generations of trauma.
The head of the world's 1.3 billion-strong Catholic population was greeted at Edmonton International Airport by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Francis has said his visit is a “penitential pilgrimage” to beg forgiveness on Canadian soil for the “evil” done to Native peoples by Catholic missionaries.
It follows his April 1 apology in the Vatican for the generations of trauma Indigenous peoples suffered as a result of a church-enforced policy to eliminate their culture and assimilate them into Canadian, Christian society.
Francis’ tone of personal repentance has signalled a notable shift for the papacy, which has long acknowledged abuses in the residential schools and strongly asserted the rights and dignity of Indigenous peoples.
But past popes have also hailed the sacrifice and holiness of the European Catholic missionaries who brought Christianity to the Americas - something Francis, too, has done but isn’t expected to emphasise during this trip.
The 10-hour flight was the 85-year-old's longest since 2019.
He has been suffering from knee pain that has forced him to use a cane or wheelchair at recent outings but says he was determined to make the trip for reconciliation and healing.
He will also visit Quebec City and Iqaluit, the capital of the Nunavut territory.
"So, it is a pilgrimage first of all," says Richard Smith, the Archbishop of Edmonton.
"But he qualified it further and he talked about it as a penitential pilgrimage.
"He is deeply
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