Despite being in a wheelchair due to a bad knee, Pope Francis is pushing forward with a trip to Canada this summer during which he plans to apologize to indigenous people there on behalf of the Catholic Church.
According to the Vatican, Francis will travel to Canada on July 24 and visit Edmonton, Quebec, and Iqaluit, a small town in the far north in which approximately half of the population is Inuit. He will leave Canada five days later, arriving back in Rome by July 30.
Last month, the pope publicly apologized for abuses in Canada’s church-run residential schools, which required mandatory attendance from 1894 to 1947 and were used to assimilate natives into Canadian culture. Many young people reportedly died in these schools.
Francis expressed “sorrow and shame” for the treatment students were given. He then stated his desire to visit Canada to personally apologize to victims of misguided missionary zeal.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis was “accepting the invitation of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities and the Indigenous communities” in making what the Holy See termed an “apostolic journey.”
Per the Vatican, details of the Canada trip will become public in the coming weeks. Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith said that the pope will visit the site of at least one former residential school.
Smith explained the pope received invitations to visit communities across the country, but could only visit a handful of them due to logistics.
“What’s really directing this is the pope’s limited ability to get around,” Smith said. “The Vatican chose these three sites for various reasons — seeing how we could have a meaningful impact within a very, very limited scope.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted to the upcoming visit, saying Francis is coming to “formally deliver the Roman Catholic Church’s apology for its role in operating residential schools that caused lasting pain and suffering to Indigenous Peoples in this country.”
“His Holiness’ upcoming visit would not be possible without the bravery and determination of the Survivors, Indigenous leaders, and youth who shared their stories,” the prime minister said in a written statement.
Trudeau added that a formal, in-person apology would be “an important — and necessary — step for the Roman Catholic Church to continue engaging in dialogue with First Nations, Inuit, and Metis in order to advance meaningful reconciliation for Indigenous Peoples in our country.”
“For far too long, this has been a burden carried by Indigenous Peoples alone. I encourage all Canadians to watch this historic moment and reflect on the impacts of colonialism,” Trudeau said.
“Given the vast landscape of Canada, the limited time for the visit and considering the health of the 85-year-old pontiff,” only three communities will serve as a base for the trip, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement.
“The locations will limit travel for the Holy Father while still allowing an opportunity for both intimate and public encounters, drawing on participation from all regions of the country,″ the statement said.
“We are immensely grateful that the Holy Father has accepted our invitation to continue the journey of healing and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples of this land,” said Bishop Raymond Poisson, president of the Canadian bishops’ conference.
Poisson added: “We pray for the health of the Holy Father as we undertake the intensive planning for this historic visit.”
The Vatican says a badly strained knee ligament is the cause of the last several weeks of limping, which led to the pontiff arriving at some public appearances in a wheelchair. For instance, he was wheelchair-bound on Friday during an appearance in which he once more decried the war in Ukraine.
Pope Francis has become well-known for his vocal left-wing stances on political issues. He has spoken out against capitalism, against President Donald Trump, and against those who believe in protecting their nations’ borders. But he has come out in support of civil unions for people of the same sex.
“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” Francis has said. “I stood up for that.”
Under Francis’ watch, the Vatican required all its employees to get the COVID-19 shot under threat of being fired.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, has claimed that Francis is allied with the Deep State and Communist China in moving the world toward globalism and socialism in the form of the Great Reset.
