The first day of Pope Francis’s “penitential pilgrimage” began with a heartfelt apology delivered at the site of one of Canada’s largest residential schools and ended eight hours later with blessings and songs at an intimate service in the only designated Indigenous church in Canada.
In a morning event in a First Nation community in central Alberta, Pope Francis apologized for members of the Catholic Church who co-operated with Canada’s “devastating” policy of Indigenous residential schools.
He said the forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed their families and marginalized generations in ways still being felt today.
“I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples,” Francis told thousands of Indigenous people, including many survivors, who converged on Maskwacis, Alta., about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton
To applause from those gathered, the Pope repeatedly begged forgiveness for actions of the past, supported by many members of the Church, which created the “disastrous error” and “deplorable evil” of residential schools.
He said the memories of the children who never returned from residential schools have left him with a sense of “sorrow, indignation and shame.”
The policies of assimilation marginalized Indigenous people, robbed them of their language and culture, and indelibly affected relationships between parents and their children and grandparents and their grandchildren, he said.
“Here from this place, associated with painful memories, I would like to begin what I consider a pilgrimage. A penitential pilgrimage,” he said, speaking from the site of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School, one of the largest in Canada.
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During his visit to Maskwacis, Alta., Pope Francis apologized to survivors of residential schools for the ways in which members of the Catholic Church co-operated in the cultural destruction of Indigenous life.
Francis’s words on Monday went beyond his earlier apology for the “deplorable” acts of missionaries and instead took responsibility for the church’s institutional co-operation with the “catastrophic” assimilation policy, which Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has said amounted to a “cultural genocide.”
The Pope spoke in Spanish, his first language, and it was translated into English by a priest. Translations were also available in several Indigenous languages.
He said his apology is only the first step in making amends with Indigenous people in Canada and that a serious investigation must be conducted into the facts of what occurred in the past.
Five teepees were set up at the location for the Pope’s visit — four representing the nations of the land and the fifth a symbol of the entrance to the former school.
As part of the ceremony, Francis returned a pair of moccasins to Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier, a retired chief of Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan.
She had given the children’s moccasins to the Pope when an Indigenous delegation visited Rome earlier this year. They were meant to represent children who never came home from residential schools and she had told the pontiff she expected him to return them when he came to apologize on Canadian soil.
Following the Pope’s long-awaited apology, Chief Wilton Littlechild — a former commissioner of the TRC — gave the pontiff a traditional Indigenous headdress. A smile beamed across the pontiff’s face as it was placed on his head.
‘A house for all’
The Pope’s second public event on Monday was a visit to Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in downtown Edmonton.
As the Pope sat in his chair at the front of the church under wooden teepee poles at the front of the church, parishioners sang hymns in English and Indigenous languages and offered gifts including a Métis sash, a star quilt and recreations of artwork lost in a fire at the church two years ago
Pope Francis waves as he is driven into a compound erected around Sacred Heart Catholic Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton Monday. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Then the Pope spoke at length to the invitation-only congregation of several hundred Indigenous leaders, parish members and others.
Francis said he was delighted to see a church community made up of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
“It is a house for all. It is open and inclusive,” he said.
“Just as the church should be.”
The meaning of reconciliation
In a homily-style speech, Francis spoke about the meaning of reconciliation. He said that the work being done at the local level is where the deeds of reconciliation really take place.
Pope Francis speaks during a service at the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton on Monday. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
He also spoke of his apology earlier and says it pains him to think that Catholics contributed to policies of assimilation that robbed people of their culture and identity.
“In the name of Jesus, may this never happen again in the church,” he said.
“May we see not a problem to be solved, but a brother or sister to be loved. May the church be a living body of reconciliation.”
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Samson Cree Nation Elder John Crier, a residential school survivor, said that while Indigenous Peoples are working to heal, he expects people and governments across Canada to act on this opportunity for reconciliation. ‘After all, we’re in this together,’ Crier said.
At the conclusion of the service, the Pope was wheeled slowly past the front pew, taking a few seconds to touch hands and offer a gift and blessing to the guests seated there.
‘You are not alone’
At a morning news conference, Indigenous chiefs from the four nations that make up Maskwacis and other First Nations in Alberta spoke about what the apology means to their people and their gratefulness to the world for bearing witness to the historic moment.
“Pope Francis has shown grace,” said Grand Chief George Arcand Jr. from the Alexander First Nation. “I thank him for honouring our request to deliver this apology in person. It is a gift for many.”
Pope Francis attends a silent prayer at the cemetery during his meeting with First Nations, Metis and Inuit Indigenous communities in Maskwacis, Alta., on Monday. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
Chief Vernon Saddleback from Samson Cree Nation noted that he was grateful that the many dignitaries attending the event — from Treaty 6 leaders to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon — were not invited to speak.
“Sometimes we need to sit back and we need to listen,” Saddleback said. “For me today, with the Pope apologizing, today was a day for everyone in the world to sit back and listen.”
All of the chiefs spoke about the “survivors and thrivers” who live in their communities, as well as about the pain that the papal apology will evoke within many.
“I anticipate this apology will weigh heavily and open old wounds for survivors,” said Chief Desmond Bull of the Louis Bull Tribe.
“We are here with you. And you are not alone.”
Pope Francis bows his head behind Indigenous chiefs preparing to perform a traditional dance at a ceremony during his papal visit across Canada in Maskwacis, Alta., on Monday, July 25, 2022. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
The Pope committed to the Canadian tour on April 1, after meetings over several days with First Nations, Inuit and Métis groups at the Vatican. At the time, Francis apologized for the deplorable conduct of some church members involved in residential schools and promised to visit Canada.
An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada, where neglect and physical and sexual abuse were rampant. More than 60 per cent of the schools were run by the Roman Catholic Church.
On Tuesday, the Pope will celebrate a large outdoor mass at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and take part in a pilgrimage at nearby Lac Ste. Anne, before travelling to Quebec City and Iqaluit.
Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports.
A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
