Pope Francis is hosting a reconciliation-themed service in Quebec before a congregation made up mostly of school survivors and other indigenous people, a day after he expressed shame and sorrow over the role Catholic institutions play in schools. Organizers say many of the speakers who will deliver readings at Thursday’s service are indigenous, and the Pope’s vestment — the outer garment worn by Roman Catholic priests during the service — was specially designed by a local Huron-Wendat artist. Hundreds of people headed to the shrine of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre, east of Quebec City, to hear Pope Francis lead the second mass of his tour of Canada, which he has called a pilgrimage of repentance. Many of the people in the pews in the sanctuary were dressed in orange to represent the Every Child Matters movement — remembering the children lost in residential schools and the survivors. Some attendees wore floral scarves and elderly people in wheelchairs sat in a section left near the stage. Organizers said there were about 1,400 people at the church. The site is one of the oldest and most popular pilgrimage sites in North America and attracts more than a million visitors annually. Organizers had said more than 16,000 people were expected inside and outside, although attendance at the pope’s previous events in Alberta had fallen short of expectations. Jackie Gull-Barney, from the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, in north-central Quebec, said before the service that she hoped to find a sense of healing and peace after seeing the Pope. Gull-Barney said her family was “torn in half” by residential schools, after she and two of her siblings were sent to English-language schools in Ontario and two younger siblings learned French in schools in Quebec. She said she felt the Pope’s apology to the indigenous people in Maskwacis, Alta was “very humble and very sincere”. But, like others, she is interested to know what specific steps will be taken next. “What will happen after the apology?” he said. “Will there be programs and places we can go for help and help to keep going?” Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters outside the shrine that many of Quebec’s values come from the Catholic Church, including a sense of mutual aid. But he said the church was also involved in the residential school system, which was a dark period in the history of Quebec and Canada. The prime minister added that he would use his one-on-one meeting with the pope on Friday to ask him to hand over to indigenous communities any documents related to residential schools. Later Thursday, the pope is to attend vespers, an evening prayer service, with church officials at the cathedral-basilica of Notre-Dame de Quebec. Francis arrived in Quebec City on Wednesday afternoon and held one-on-one meetings with Governor General Mary Simon and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the historic Citadelle. He later addressed a small room of indigenous officials and school survivors. The Pope asked for forgiveness for the harm caused by the assimilation policies implemented in residential schools. He expressed deep shame and sorrow at the role played by various local Roman Catholic institutions in the “deplorable” system. It was the second papal apology on Canadian soil for Francis. On Monday, he begged for forgiveness for the “evil that so many Christians have committed against Native Peoples,” during a speech in Maskwacis, Alta. Trudeau said Thursday that the pope’s trip to Canada was a “step toward healing,” but acknowledged that some indigenous leaders want to see Francis go further. “The message of His Holiness, the message of the church that this is the beginning of a process is encouraging, it has helped many in their healing, but there is a lot of work to be done,” Trudeau told reporters outside the church. “And the government has been there for many years. It’s good to see the church step up.” Pope Francis is set to leave Quebec City on Friday and make a brief stop in Iqaluit before heading to the Vatican. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 28, 2022.
