He will be in the Quebec area until Friday as part of his week-long trip to Canada before making his final run to Iqaluit. The Pope is scheduled to arrive in Quebec City around 3pm at Jean Lesage International Airport. Those who want to catch a glimpse of the pontiff while driving through Old Quebec can stop along the rue De l’Aéroport or along the Grande Allée next to the Plains of Abraham from Boulevard Bougainville to the Acropolis. The Pope is expected to meet with Governor General Mary Simon and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Acropolis before preparing to address the public. Organizers have pushed the events at the Citadel to 4:40 p.m. to ensure indigenous leaders and visitors on a delayed charter flight from Edmonton could attend the ceremony. His speech will be broadcast on giant screens to crowds on the Plains of Abraham. The displays will be located behind the Manège militaire de Québec and in front of the National Musée des Beaux-Arts du Québec. The Plains sites can accommodate up to 160,000 people. Pope Francis is then expected to tour the Plains in the Popemobile along Avenue George VI East, before his entourage heads to the Archdiocese of Quebec, not far from the Château Frontenac hotel. Preparations are underway on the Plains of Abraham for the Pope’s speech. (Colin Côté-Paulette/Radio-Canada) Musical performances by First Nation, Inuit and Québécois artists will also take place on the Plains from 1:30 p.m. and are expected to last until 7 p.m. A group of 13 residential school survivors are set to arrive in the Plains on Wednesday evening, after a seven-day, 275-kilometre walk from the Innu community of Mashteuiatsh in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. Once there, they will recount their experiences on stage. The community is home to the last residential school in Quebec, Pointe-Bleue, which closed in 1991. The survivors are from the Innu, Anishinaabe, Naskapi, Wendat and Atikamekw nations.
Hundreds flock to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica ahead of Pope’s visit
On Thursday, the Pope will hold a mass at 10 a.m. at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, about 30 kilometers northeast of Quebec City. Hundreds of members and representatives of the indigenous community visited the basilica on Tuesday morning for the Catholic feast of Saint Anne. Every summer, hundreds travel to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré for the pilgrimage, even busier this year with the upcoming liturgy. Florence Penashue was at the basilica with her 94-year-old grandmother, Mary Odele Penashue, and says this is her third time making the pilgrimage. Florence Penashue’s 94-year-old grandmother, Mary Odele Penashue, has made the annual summer pilgrimage many times. (Sandra Hercegova/CBC) “I hope everyone will forgive each other, forgive each other and love each other like Jesus said,” said Penashue, who came with her grandmother from Sheshatshiu, NL. “I’m so happy to be here, that God gave me the opportunity to be here with my grandmother,” she said with tears in her eyes. “To me it means that he wants to reconcile, to restore what was broken and to apologize to the natives,” he added. Joe Peastitute said it was important for him to attend Tuesday’s service because he’s not sure how much longer he’ll be here. He is staying in Quebec City for medical support after suffering a stroke and a broken leg. Joe Peastitute is open to hearing what the Pope has to say, but said he doesn’t have high hopes. (Sandra Hercegova/CBC) “I want to see what it will do for the people,” said Peastitute, of the Kawawachikamach Nation about 15 kilometers northeast of Schefferville, Que. But he said he doesn’t have high hopes. “As humans we have lost enough,” he said. “I just want to pray for my people and the people I lost, my parents, my grandparents, that’s why I came here.” Thursday’s service will be held in Spanish, the Pope’s native language, with English and French subtitles on outdoor screens. People can also watch the service on the papal visit website, which will have live translation of the event in 12 indigenous languages. Support is available for anyone affected by their residential school experience or recent reports. A national crisis line for residential schools in India has been set up to provide support to ex-students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419. Mental health counseling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
