Pope Francis visits Canada from this Sunday to July 29, most of all, Apologize to Indigenous communities for their mistreatment of Catholic boarding schoolsA trip that would test her mobility problems due to her knee pain that prevented her from walking and which had already forced her to cancel other trips.
francisco reappeared this Friday in a wheelchair The image of the Virgin “Cellus Populi Romani” in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, a habitual gesture before her visit.
Therefore, everything indicates that The Pope will use his wheelchair to go on this visit designed keeping in mind the possibility And, moreover, according to the bishops of Canada, all work will be limited to one hour to avoid too much fatigue.
Asked by reporters how the Pope’s health would affect the visit, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni replied: “This will be seen moment by moment depending on the situation, We’re not going to forecast.”
A Journey to “Apologize”
,an ascetic shrine”, as defined by Francis During the Prayer of Angelus last Sunday, as the main cause of this visit, the Catholic Church responds to the request of indigenous communities to delegate and seek forgiveness on their land for the persecutions, abuses and torture they met. During the so-called assimilation processes by the Canadian government from the middle of the nineteenth century to the end of the 90s of the last century.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 139 government funded schools created and is for the most part administered by the Catholic Church in which Nearly 150,000 Indigenous children were placed under house arrest Those who were separated from their families were forced to give up their language, tradition and culture.
In these boarding schools All forms of abuse were encountered and it is estimated that over 3,000 children were killed. Due to diseases caused by the conditions in which they lived due to hunger, overcrowding and lack of sanitation. They were buried in mass graves without any identification.
An agenda focused on proximity to indigenous peoples
francisco Arrive at Edmonton Airport on Sunday after a 10 1/2 hour flight And it is expected that upon his arrival he will be greeted by Governor General Mary Simon, the first indigenous person to hold the position, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Then he would rest all day as John Paul II did when he arrived in Strawberry Island, Ontario 20 years ago.
The next day he will go to Muskavasi, where one of these great boarding schools arose and after praying in a cemetery The elders of the native people will welcome him and give the first of his nine speeches, which he has chosen to perform in Spanish.
Too Will visit the Church of the Sacred Heart of the First People Where it will address Native peoples, who represent approximately 1.7 million people, 5% of Canada’s 38.8 million residents.
26 July, the Feast of St. Anne, will celebrate Mass at the Commonwealth StadiumAnd in the afternoon he would preside over a prayer at Santa Anna, the largest lake in the province of Alberta, a place of great spirituality for Aboriginal people and where a mission was founded that established an important connection between indigenous peoples and Catholicism. did.
Later, Will go to Quebec to meet officials and where he will celebrate Mass at the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre and preside over the observance at Notre-Dame Basilica for this country’s Catholics, who make up about 44 percent.
last day, Francisco will face the farthest journey a pontiff has ever made: to IqaluitaWhich means “place of many fish” in the Inuktitut language, is located 186 miles south of the Arctic Circle, and is home to the largest Inuit community in Canada, about 4,000 people, with about 8,000 residents in total.
While there, in Naksuke Primary School, Pope Francis will hold a private meeting with boarding school alumni And in the afternoon he will also meet indigenous youth in the school premises.
