Journey of Healing and Reconciliation

Sept. 1, 2022

Pope Francis makes a penitential pilgrimage to meet with the Indigenous peoples of Canada

By Kyle Greenham

Sept. 1, 2022

Pope Francis speaks to parishioners of Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton, Alberta, on July 25. He praised their generous “works of charity” for the poor and reflected on the meaning of reconciliation in light of the wounds endured by Canada’s Indigenous peoples. (Photo by Shane Fester)

Pope Francis addressed a packed crowd of Indigenous parishioners at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton, Alberta, on July 25. Speaking before the tabernacle, designed to resemble a teepee, his words went to the very heart of his July 24-29 pastoral visit to Canada.

“The teepee reminds us that God accompanies us on our journey and loves to meet us together. And when he became man, the Gospel tells us, he literally ‘pitched his tent among us,’” the Holy Father said. “That is what we should call to mind every time that we enter a church, where Jesus is present in the tabernacle, a word that itself originally meant ‘tent.’ Therefore, God has placed his tent in our midst; he accompanies us through our deserts. He does not dwell in heavenly mansions, but in our Church, which he wants to be a house of reconciliation.”

Reconciliation and healing between the Catholic Church and the Indigenous peoples of Canada was the central aim of the pope’s apostolic journey, which took place under the theme “Walking Together.” Pope Francis visited the provinces of Alberta and Québec and the territory of Nunavut, and he apologized on several occasions for the Church’s role in running Canada’s residential schools and the abuses suffered there. For more than a century, the government-sponsored school system separated children from their families and sought to expunge aspects of Indigenous culture, language and religion.

In support of the pope’s visit, the Knights of Columbus provided financial assistance to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and local Knights played a key role in the volunteer efforts around the papal events. K of C leaders from British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick were also present at the papal Masses in Alberta and Québec.

Former Supreme Warden Graydon Nicholas, a member of the Maliseet First Nation and consultant for the supreme knight on Indigenous affairs, was grateful that Pope Francis came to Canada to meet with affected communities.

“The residential school survivors and intergenerational families will look forward to walking with our Church and non-Indigenous brothers and sisters toward healing and reconciliation,” Nicholas said. “It will take a long time for trust and confidence to be restored, but the pope brought a message of hope.”

‘I ASK FORGIVENESS’

The Holy Father’s visit was prompted by a Vatican meeting in March between the pope and representatives of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Indigenous peoples. At that time, Pope Francis apologized to them for the Church’s role in the residential school system and promised to do so again publicly on Canadian soil.

Four months later, on July 25, Pope Francis began the first full day of his apostolic journey with a visit to the First Nations community of Maskwacis in central Alberta, formerly the site of one of Canada’s largest residential schools.

“I am here because the first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of again asking forgiveness, of telling you once more that I am deeply sorry,” the pope said. “I ask forgiveness, in particular, for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools.”

Later that afternoon, the Holy Father visited Edmonton’s Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, which was renovated after a devastating fire with support from the Order in time for the pope’s visit (see sidebar).

On July 26, the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Pope Francis celebrated an outdoor Mass in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium before traveling to Lac Ste. Anne, a site sacred to Indigenous peoples in Alberta. A Catholic pilgrimage to the lake has been held each July since the late 19th century, drawing tens of thousands of Indigenous peoples annually.

“The grandmother, the kokum, is very important in Indigenous cultures,” explained Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton. “As the mother of the Blessed Virgin and therefore the grandmother of Jesus, a wonderful, beautiful devotion to St. Anne has grown.”

In his homilies and addresses, Pope Francis underscored the importance of honoring one’s parents and grandparents and the traditions they pass on.

“Mothers and grandmothers help to heal the wounds of our hearts,” he said in his address at Lac Ste. Anne. “At the dramatic time of the conquest, Our Lady of Guadalupe transmitted the true faith to the Indigenous people, speaking their own language and clothed in their own garments, without violence or imposition. … In Canada, this ‘maternal inculturation’ took place through St. Anne, combining the beauty of Indigenous traditions and faith, and fashioning them with the wisdom of a grandmother, who is a mother twice over.”

Pope Francis blesses the crowd — The Holy Father (right, in popemobile) greets the crowd before celebrating Mass at the Basilica of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupré in Québec on July 28. (Photo by CNS photo/Paul Haring)

A STEP ALONG THE ROAD

The pope’s pilgrimage continued in Québec, with the largest Mass taking place July 28 in the Basilica of Ste. Anne-de-Beaupré, one of the oldest pilgrimage sites in Canada. Like Lac St. Anne, the national shrine has long been considered a sacred place by Indigenous Catholics.

Graydon Nicholas, Supreme Director Arthur Peters and Supreme Director Daniel Duchesne were among those attending the Mass. As in Edmonton, local Knights served in a wide variety of roles, including directing pilgrims to buses and boats bound for the shrine, which sits on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

Father Cristino Bouvette, the national liturgical director of the papal visit, particularly thanked Knights for serving as “guards of the Blessed Sacrament” at large-scale Masses during the papal visit, helping to facilitate the reverent distribution of holy Communion.

Father Bouvette, a young priest whose father is Indigenous Cree and Métis and whose mother is Italian, is a longtime member of Joe McKenna Council 90502 in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

“Standing guard with our Lord in the holy Eucharist and showing him the reverence we ought to show him as Knights is a service that is hidden and known to no one but him,” he said. “That should be the greatest service of all.”

The next day, as the papal visit neared its conclusion, the Holy Father met with a delegation of Indigenous peoples from Québec and entrusted the path ahead to three women: St. Anne, the Virgin Mary and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

“Two of them, Our Lady and St. Kateri, received from God a plan for their lives, and … courageously said ‘yes’ to it,” the pope said. “With meekness and determination, with prophetic words and decisive gestures, they blazed a trail and accomplished what they had been called to do. May they bless the journey we now share, and intercede for us and for this great work of healing and reconciliation that is so pleasing to God.”

After spending the remainder of the day with the Inuit peoples of Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory, the Holy Father returned to Rome July 29, ending his penitential pilgrimage. But as Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, archbishop of Québec, noted, the road toward healing is just beginning.

“This visit is already a big step, as I don’t think there’s ever been a meeting of this magnitude,” Cardinal Lacroix said. “Healing is a process that takes time. We have a long way to go, but we’re on the right path.”

Graydon Nicholas concurred.

“Reconciliation will be about walking together, non-Indigenous people with Indigenous people, accepting one another as brothers and sisters in Christ,” he said. “This has been a long time coming, and it was a moment of grace.”

More than 250,000 mourners attend the funeral Mass of Pope Francis on April 26, 2025

Journey of Healing and Reconciliation

‘I ASK FORGIVENESS’

A STEP ALONG THE ROAD

Related Articles

Vatican

A Pilgrim of Hope

A Pilgrim of Hope

Vatican

Habemus Papam!

Habemus Papam!

Vatican

Universal Shepherd

Universal Shepherd

Vatican

‘In the One Christ, We Are One’

‘In the One Christ, We Are One’

Vatican

A Light to the World

A Light to the World

Vatican

‘More Sublime Than Ever’

‘More Sublime Than Ever’

Vatican

‘To Be a Leaven of Peace and Holiness’

‘To Be a Leaven of Peace and Holiness’

Vatican

On a ‘Journey of Fraternity’

On a ‘Journey of Fraternity’