50 miles from Edmonton, Canada sits Maskwacis, which in Cree means “bear hills.” That's where Pope Francis arrived among the sound of drums to Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows Church.
He was received by the parish priest and several elders of the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Indigenous communities. Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, was also in attendance.
Pope Francis prayed in a cemetery near a former residential school. Many of which in Canada were run by Catholic groups, and abuses against children were rampant. The cemetery includes unmarked graves of children who died at the school.
The Indigenous leaders thanked Pope Francis for his visit. Others paraded a banner of more than 4,000 names of children who died in residential schools, and performed a healing dance.
Cree chief Wilton Littlechild then addressed the Pope. He is a residential school survivor and was part of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Pope Francis referenced the moccasins that Indigenous delegations gave him at the Vatican which they asked him to return to them in Canada. They represent all those children who went to residential schools and never came home.
POPE FRANCIS
I was asked to return the moccasins when I came to Canada, and I will do so at the end of these few words, in which I would like to reflect on this symbol, which over the past few months has kept alive my sense of sorrow,
indignation and shame.
The Pope once again apologized and expressed his shame in the many Christians who, instead of living out the Gospel, supported colonialist attitudes toward Indigenous groups
POPE FRANICS
I am deeply sorry. Sorry for the ways in which, regrettably, many Christians supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that oppressed the indigenous peoples.
After his remarks, the Pope then returned the moccasins to the Indigenous delegation that gave him the shoes, and asked him to walk with them on the path to healing and reconciliation.
RM
TR: JM
