The Vatican has officially announced that Pope Francis will be present this year on Canadian soil. “He will visit Canada from July 24 to 30, after having accepted invitations from civil and ecclesiastical authorities, as well as from indigenous communities,” the Holy See’s Press Office announced on Friday. The main purpose of this visit is to reiterate apologies for the role the Church has had…

The Vatican has officially announced that Pope Francis will be present this year on Canadian soil. “He will visit Canada from July 24 to 30, after having accepted invitations from civil and ecclesiastical authorities, as well as from indigenous communities,” the Holy See’s Press Office announced on Friday. The main purpose of this visit is to reiterate apologies for the role the Church had in the former residential schools for Indigenous children. Francisco will have activities in Edmonton, Iqaluit and Quebec.

Raymond Poisson, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the Pontiff will thus continue “the path of healing and reconciliation with the indigenous peoples of this country.” Between 1883 and 1996, a network of 139 federal boarding schools operated in Canada (and administered by religious groups, mostly Catholics) to forcibly assimilate some 150,000 Indigenous miners. The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves in several of these centers since May last year has caused worldwide consternation and increased demands for an apology from the pope. Anglican, Presbyterian and United Church of Canada leaders followed suit in the 1990s.

On April 1, Francis finally made his way before a delegation of native authorities from Canada who traveled to Rome. “I feel shame and pain for the role that some Catholics, especially those with educational responsibilities, have played in all these things that have hurt you, the abuse you have suffered and the disrespect for your identity, your culture and including their spiritual values”, declared the Sovereign Pontiff. “For the deplorable behavior of these members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness from God and I want to tell you with all my heart that I am truly sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking their forgiveness,” he added.

A few days later, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops reported that it had invited the pope to the country; also that there were already conversations with the Holy See regarding various aspects of this visit. After the confirmation from Rome, Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton and official coordinator of the trip, stressed that Francis’ priority was to meet with indigenous communities.

The Catholic leader will be in Edmonton, the second Canadian city with the largest Aboriginal population. The pope is scheduled to visit a former boarding school for minors near this city in the province of Alberta. It will also be in Iqaluit, the main urban center of the Inuit. It will also have activities in Quebec. Several indigenous authorities stressed this Friday that the papal trip is a step in the right direction, although they lamented that the itinerary did not include Kamloops, the community located in British Columbia where the first unmarked graves were discovered. .

Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, welcomed the visit in a statement. Trudeau placed particular emphasis on “the courage and determination of the survivors” of the former internees to make this trip a reality. The Canadian Prime Minister had repeatedly asked the pontiff to apologize for the role of the Church in these centers. Francis’ visit will be the fourth by a pope to Canada. John Paul II visited the North American country in 1984, 1987 and 2002.

Subscribe here for newsletter of EL PAÍS America and receive all the latest news from the region.