On a trip that will focus on asking Indigenous peoples to forgive them for abuses in boarding schools run by Christian institutions for more than 100 years, Pope Francis will travel to Canada next Sunday for one of the longest visits of his pontificateand which he decided to keep despite the fact that he continues to be treated for ligament problems in his right knee.

The 85-year-old pontiff will travel between Sunday 24 and Saturday 30 a total of 19,246 kilometers to visit the cities of Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluitin which he will deliver nine speeches, most focused on the Church’s reconciliation with Canada’s indigenous peoples, Telam learned from Vatican sources.

Suffering since the beginning of the year from pain in his right knee caused by a ligament injury, the pope has maintained the trip to Canada despite the fact that he is still recovering and after having had to suspend, on medical advice, the trip that he he had planned in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan for July 2-7.

The Pope’s trip is a continuation of the meetings he had in the Vatican at the end of March and the beginning of April with representatives of the Métis, Inuit and First Nations, the three Indigenous peoples who suffered abuse of all kinds in approximately 140 residential schools that operated in Canada from the mid-19th century to the late 20th.

About 150,000 children have passed through it, many of whom have been victims of abuse that has sometimes caused their death.

“Unfortunately, in Canada, many Christians, including some members of religious institutes, have contributed to policies of cultural assimilation which in the past have seriously harmed communities of origin in various ways,” said the pope after praying the Angelus at the Vatican.

“Unfortunately, in Canada, many Christians, including some members of religious institutes, have contributed to policies of cultural assimilation which in the past have seriously harmed the communities of origin in various ways”

“Now I will make a penitential pilgrimage which I hope, with the grace of God, will contribute to the path of healing and reconciliation already undertaken,” he stressed.

Accompanied by Télam as the only South American medium aboard the Ita Airways Airbus A330 which will take him to CanadaFrançois will leave Rome on the 24th at 9 am and will travel nearly 8,500 kilometers in 10 hours before landing in Edmonton, in the west of the country, where he will be received by the Canadian authorities.

On Monday the 25th, on his first day of activities, the pope will travel to Maskwacis, nearly 100 kilometers south of Edmonton, to meet with representatives of the three indigenous peoples on the plaza of one of the largest schools that served as boarding schools for the children of these towns, Ermineskin, which operated between 1895 and 1975.

According to figures from the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, 15 children died in Ermineskin from tuberculosis due to the poor conditions in which they had to live.

The pope’s visit is partly a response to the report published in 2015 by the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission with 94 “calls to action” including a specific request that the pontiff apologize on Canadian soil.

Following the meeting with Métis, First Nations and Inuit, Francis will return to Edmonton for another meeting with Indigenous representatives and local church communities.

Meeting with Trudeau

On Tuesday 26, the pope will celebrate his first mass on Canadian soil, with a ceremony at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, with a capacity of nearly 60,000 people. After mass, the pope will travel 50 kilometers west to take part in a pilgrimage to Lake Santa Ana, a tradition of local Christian communities since 1889 that brought together nearly 40,000 people each year until before the pandemic.

On Wednesday 27, the pope will cross Canada and travel 3,100 kilometers east to reach Quebec, the second stage of his visit.

On that day, the pontiff will meet Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Citadelle in Quebec, in what will be the second bilateral meeting between the two after the meeting they had at the Vatican in May 2017.

Immediately afterwards, Francisco will deliver a speech, as usual, before the civil authorities and the diplomatic corps accredited in the country, which this time, in another gesture of rapprochement, will also be joined by representatives of the indigenous communities.

The next day, still in Quebec, the Pope will celebrate his second Mass in Canada, with a ceremony at the National Shrine of Beaupré.

Exhausted

The 2,000 tickets made available to the public for this mass were sold out in just 10 minutes, local church leader Erika Jacinto told Télam.

Another 7,000 tickets are reserved for indigenous communities, Jacinto said.

Also on the 28th, but in the afternoon, the pope will meet the local clergy at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Quebec, with whom he will celebrate vespers and deliver a homily.

On Friday the 29th, his last day in Canada, Bergoglio will meet the local Jesuit community in Quebec, another constant of his travels, then travel to Iqaluit, in the Canadian north, to meet the indigenous peoples of the region and leave for the afternoon in Rome, where it will land on Saturday 30.

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The cases of abuse occurred in several of the 139 boarding schools established by the Canadian state to re-educate some 150,000 indigenous people between the ages of 3 and 16 according to Western traditions, which were run in many cases by Christian institutions.

According to estimates by indigenous peoples, some 4,100 children died in these boarding schools amid poor living conditions and many were also buried in mass graves, several of which have been discovered in recent years.

The visit to Canada, which will have the motto “Walking together,” will be Francis’ 37th international trip since his enthronement in 2013, during which he has already visited 54 countries, while becoming the second pope to set foot in the nation. North American. ., after the three pilgrimages made by John Paul II.