Pope visit to Alberta is a moment of reflection for Indigenous residential school survivors

Emotional support or assistance for those who are affected by the residential school system can be found at Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll-free 1 (800) 721-0066 or 24-hr Crisis Line 1 (866) 925-4419.

Thousands of people across Canada are making their way into Alberta for the pilgrimage of penance. Pope Francis arrives in Canada this weekend for his week-long visit, starting in Edmonton Sunday.

The papal visit has been highly anticipated, as survivors of residential schools look toward a path of reconciliation after decades of trauma.

The visit comes after the Pope met with Indigenous representatives earlier this year at the Vatican, where he made a historic apology for the abuses inflicted at church-run residential schools in Canada.

Thousands of unmarked graves were discovered near or at the sites of former residential schools and Catholic Churches last year.

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Andrew Carrier is a residential school survivor going to see Pope Francis in Alberta.

He says he will be thinking of the abuse he experienced at a day school in Manitoba and hopes for healing.

“The sense that they are also being heard and being recognized and that what they have been saying is the truth. And to be recognized and heard is how important that is,” said Carrier.

Chief Randy Ermineskin of the Cree Nation in central Alberta says the visit may open up old wounds for survivors.

“We need to be at the ready for all of them to assist them, sit with them — because it’s not just a one-hour sit-down, it’s going to require a whole lot of time so we need to prepare ourselves,” he said, adding the community has been in touch with the federal government to help supply mental health supports for survivors to work through trauma.

Susan Enge has made the long journey from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to see Pope Francis to honour her mother, who was a residential school survivor.

“The personal choice and the personal journey for everyone who is seeking a healing from the Pope’s messaging. And I think for me, I choose to forgive,” she said.

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The Indigenous community also plans to address the return of Indigenous and colonial-era artifacts. Indigenous groups from Canada who visited the Vatican museums say they saw some items there that they want to be returned.

Pope Francis will tour Edmonton, Quebec City, and Iqaluit from July 24 to 29 in what he’s referred to as his ‘penitential’ pilgrimage.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission has called for him to deliver a papal apology on Canadian soil.

The pope will also be visiting Quebec and Iqaluit.

–With files from The Canadian Press and Kenny Mason