Canada: Indigenous Leaders to Meet Pope Francis at the Vatican, Setting Stage for Apology

National Indigenous leaders will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican in December to set the stage for a formal papal apology in Canada for the Roman Catholic Church's role in residential schools, according to CBC Canada.

A delegation of First Nations, Métis and Inuit will meet with the Pope separately between December 17 and 20. Along with national leaders, the Indigenous delegation will consist of elders, knowledge keepers, residential school survivors and young people from across the country.

David Chartrand, vice-president of the Métis National Council, said Indigenous delegates will use their time with the Pope to press him to apologize on Indigenous soil in Canada. "We want him to come to our lands. It will mean so much to us that he comes here and expresses his statement."

The trip was supposed to have happened already, but the pandemic delayed those plans.