A visit by the sovereign pontiff is scheduled for this Sunday in Canada, in order to evoke the memory of the indigenous peoples in the drama of colonization. At the time, 150,000 Native American children had been “robbed” and forcibly enrolled in boarding schools run by the Catholic Church.
By the editor
LPope Francis, still physically weakened, flies away on Sunday for a visit to Canada, during which he should renew his request for forgiveness for the role of the Church in the drama of the residential schools for natives.
The 85-year-old Argentine pontiff is scheduled to depart at 9:00 a.m. (07:00 GMT) from Rome’s Fiumicino airport for Edmonton, Alberta, where he will be greeted at 11:20 a.m. (1720 GMT) by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and religious leaders.
With more than ten hours of flight, this is the longest trip since 2019 for the sovereign pontiff, weakened by pain in his right knee forcing him to move with a cane or in a wheelchair.
This visit will be primarily devoted to Aboriginals, ancestral Amerindian populations representing 5% of the population of Canada and who identify with three groups: Indians or First Nations, Métis and Inuit.
“Cultural Genocide”
Between the end of the 19th century and the 1990s, some 150,000 indigenous children were forcibly enrolled in more than 130 boarding schools, institutions subsidized by the State but mainly administered by the Catholic Church. They were cut off from their families, their language and their culture and often victims of violence.
Up to 6,000 children lost their lives there. A “cultural genocide” according to a national commission of inquiry, in a country where the discovery of more than 1,300 anonymous graves in 2021 created an intergenerational shock wave.
This trip arouses great expectation among the indigenous populations who hope that the pope will renew his historic apologies pronounced in April at the Vatican.
The Argentinian Jesuit could also perform symbolic gestures, such as bringing back indigenous art objects that have been kept in the Vatican for decades.
After a day of rest on Sunday, François is due to meet members of the indigenous peoples for the first time on Monday morning in Maskwacis, about a hundred kilometers south of Edmonton, where up to 15,000 people are expected. Alberta was the province with the largest number of residential schools.
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