“I was waiting to come among you. It is from here, from this sadly evocative place, that I would like to begin what I have in my heart: a penitential pilgrimage. I come to your native lands to tell you personally that I am saddened, to implore God for forgiveness, healing. and reconciliation, to show you my closeness, to pray with you and for you “. Thus the Pope to the native communities of Canada in Maskwacis. Expressing “indignation and shame” Francis added: “Walking together, praying together, working together, so that the sufferings of the past give way to a future of justice, healing and reconciliation”.
“The first step of this penitential pilgrimage among you is to renew the request for forgiveness and to tell you with all my heart that I am deeply saddened: I ask forgiveness for the ways in which unfortunately many Christians have supported the colonizing mentality of the powers that have oppressed the indigenous peoples. I am saddened. I ask forgiveness in particular for the ways in which many members of the Church and religious communities cooperated also through indifference to those projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation of the governments of the time that culminated in the residential school system “. So the Pope.
Pope francescoon this second day of his in Canadaarrived aboard his white Fiat 500L a Maskwacisabout 70 km south of Edmontonwhere today it meets the indigenous peoples First Nations, Metis and Inuit. Ѐ This is already one of the crucial moments of the journey, intended by the Pope as a “penitential pilgrimage” in the territories of the indigenous peoples to express closeness and repentance with respect to the policies of assimilation and the horrors of government residential schools, largely partly managed by the Catholic Church.
The Maskwacis area (“bear hills”, in Cree language), called from 1891 to 2013 Hobbema, from the name of the first railway station built on the territory, is located in central Alberta. It houses the reserves of the Indian Tribe group of Western Canada, the Four Nations of Maskwacis: the Ermineskin Cree Nation; Louis Bull Tribe; Montana First Nation and Samson Cree Nation.
The First Nations are signatories to Treaty 6, one of 11 Numbered Treaties signed by indigenous peoples – First Nations – and the Canadian Crown, between 1871 and 1921. At one time, this vast area was covered with blueberry bushes which attracted the area a large population of bears, hence the name Maskwacis or Bear Hills. The Governor General of Canada is also present at the meeting with the Pope, Mary Simon – herself of an Inuit mother – and the prime minister Justin Trudeau.
THE SECOND DAY OF THE PONTIFF IN CANADA
The Pope is welcomed at the entrance of the church dedicated to Madonna of the Seven Sorrows – near the former Ermineskin residential school – to the parish priest and some elders of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations, then continues on a golf car to graveyard, accompanied by drum sounds. Having entered the cemetery, in a strictly private form, Francesco lingers in silent prayer. At the end, he moves aboard the golf car to Bear Park Pow-Wow Grounds, where at the entrance he is greeted by a delegation of indigenous leaders from all over the country. Francesco has traveled in a wheelchair the few hundred meters towards the cemetery of the natives.
After the traditional entrance of the indigenous chiefs there are the words of welcome from one of the chiefs, Wilton Littlechild. Then the Pope’s speech, in Spanish, a song, the prayer of the Our Father, the blessing and finally the individual greeting to the Pontiff by some elders and indigenous leaders.
Source: Ansa
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