Papal tour to include stops in Edmonton, Maskwacis
Parish council chair calls visit by the Pope `a miraculous event'
The Archdiocese of Edmonton has confirmed Pope Francis will be attending events in Edmonton as well as Maskwacis and Lac Ste. Anne during his Canadian tour in July.
Joined by representatives from the venues slated to receive the Pope, Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith, national co-ordinator for Francis's visit, spoke to the “long-anticipated” announcement during a virtual news conference Thursday.
“We are really pleased and very excited to be able to welcome him,” Smith said.
“The Pope's visit to Canada will be an important step — although one step among many — in this ongoing journey of healing and reconciliation between the church and Indigenous peoples.”
According to an online itinerary for the visit, the Pope's Canadian tour begins with an arrival in Edmonton on July 24 and a ceremony at the airport before taking the remainder of the day to rest.
On July 25, he is scheduled to visit the site of the former Ermineskin Residential School in the Indigenous community of Maskwacis, about 80 km south of Edmonton, where he will join residential school survivors from across the country for a formal event before appearing at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton's Mccauley community later that day.
Joining the conference, Gilda Soosay, chairperson for Our Lady of Seven Sorrows parish council in Maskwacis, said a papal visit to the community is “hard to believe,” but she sees it as “a miraculous event” for the community.
“The truth is healing, and once our Indigenous people here in Maskwacis start speaking their stories, the truth will come out and healing will begin," she said.
“I am so optimistic that things can change for our communities here in Maskwacis.”
For the feast of St. Anne on July 26, Pope Francis will celebrate with an open-air mass at Commonwealth Stadium — an event that will incorporate Indigenous traditions and expects to accommodate up to 65,000 attendees.
Andre Corbould, Edmonton's city manager, said the city is pleased to play a supporting role in the Catholic Church's reconciliation efforts and committed to fulfilling the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as it welcomes Indigenous people from across Western Canada to participate in this opportunity.
The Pope will then travel to a pilgrimage site at Lac Ste. Anne, about 97 km northwest of Edmonton, in the evening.
Rev. Gary Laboucane, a Catholic priest and spiritual director of the Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage said the thought of the Pope attending as a pilgrim would be “a perfect image.”
“For over 100 years, people have been coming to Lac Ste. Anne and making many sacrifices to be there,” he said.
Francis was originally scheduled to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as South Sudan at the beginning of July, but the trip to Africa was postponed due to knee problems that have affected his ability to walk.
As a result, Francis's visit will follow a strict itinerary, Smith said, adding that the Pope's Canadian travel plans signal a determination to spend time with Indigenous people nonetheless.
The visit follows a historic April apology Francis delivered at the Vatican to Indigenous delegates for the Roman Catholic Church's role in Canada's residential schools and the intergenerational trauma they caused.
First Nation groups have since called for an apology on Canadian soil.
The Edmonton archbishop couldn't confirm whether or not the Pope will deliver another apology during the trip, but said “it's anticipated that his principal statement will take place in Maskwacis.”
Nevertheless, Smith added, the various parties organizing the visit recognize that those closest to the Pope at these events “would need to be survivors from the residential school legacy.”
The remainder of the visit will be split between Quebec and Nunavut after the Pope departs for Quebec City on July 27, Sainte-anne-deBeaupré on July 28, and Iqaluit on July 29 before returning to Rome later that evening.
The itinerary notes the Pope's presence at each event will be limited to approximately one hour.