On this occasion it was decided that upon arrival in Edmonton, the 85-year-old pope rests for the whole day, following an official welcome by the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, the first indigenous person in the position.
Pope Francis began his six-day visit to Canada today following an invitation from indigenous communities to visit his land, and apologize for abuses at Catholic boarding schools during the so-called assimilation processes.
The Ita Airways Company flight took off from Fiumicino Airport at 9:00 a.m. (8:00 GMT) and will arrive in Edmonton after a journey of more than ten hours.
It is expected that on this occasion, as in 1984, when John Paul II also visited Canada, Francis accompanied the Vatican delegation and about 70 journalists who traveled with him for this visit at an altitude of 10,000 meters. Sunday Angelus will pray. ,
On this occasion it was decided that upon arrival in Edmonton, the 85-year-old pope rests for the whole day, following an official welcome by the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, the first indigenous person in the position.
Francisco, who has reappeared in a wheelchair in recent days due to knee problems that prevent him from walking, will begin the official agenda on Monday with a visit to a residential school in Maskavasis, where he will meet with the indigenous population. – First Nations, Métis and Inuit – and will give his first speech, which, like the rest, will be in Spanish.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 139 government-funded schools were created, most of them administered by the Catholic Church, in which approximately 150,000 indigenous children were interned, separated from their families, taught their languages, traditions and The culture was forced to leave.
In the afternoon, he will visit the Church of the Sacred Heart, where he will hold a meeting with the indigenous population and members of the parish community and there he will bless the image dedicated to Kateri Tekquitha, the first North American indigenous saint. The woman was recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
On 26 July, at Commonwealth Stadium, he will hold a mass celebration for the Catholic community, which represents 44 percent of the population, and in the afternoon he will visit Lake Saint-Anne, west of Edmonton, a shrine and holy place. to the native people.
On 27 July, he will travel to Quebec, where he will meet with the governor and prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and a day later he will visit the National Shrine of Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, the first site of John Paul II. Meeting with Swadeshi in 1984.
On the final day, Francis will face the farthest voyage ever made by a pontiff: the Iqaluit, which in the Inuktitut language means “place of many fish”, located 186 miles south of the Arctic Circle and the largest Inuit in Canada. The home of the community. About 4,000 people out of a total of about 8,000 residents.
