July 26,2022:Pope Francis landed in Canada yesterday to kick off a week-long trip that will centre around his apology on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church for the abuse that indigenous children endured at mostly church-run residential schools.
“This is a trip of penance. Let’s say that is its spirit,” the Pope told reporters after his flight took off from Rome.
Between 1881 and 1996 more than 150,000 indigenous children were separated from their families and brought to residential schools. Many children were starved, beaten and sexually abused in a system that Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission called “cultural genocide.”
Governor General Mary Simon, who represents Canada’s head of state, Queen Elizabeth, was the first to greet the Pope. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed.
Earlier aboard the papal plane, the Pope said he yearned to visit Ukraine in his efforts to try and bring an end to the five-month-old war that he has repeatedly decried.
“I have a great desire to go to Kyiv,” the Pope said when asked about a possible future trip to Ukraine.
In an exclusive interview earlier this month, the pontiff told Reuters that he hoped to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv soon after his trip to Canada.
