Pope Francis plans to visit Canada in late July, where he is expected to meet with indigenous survivors of abuse at church boarding schools, the Vatican has said. He explained that “The Pope will visit the cities of Edmonton, Quebec and Iqaluit and his visit is expected to last one week.”
Last month, the Pope apologized to indigenous delegations who visited him in the Vatican after exposing a scandal that rocked the Catholic Church. Several investigations are ongoing at former boarding schools after unidentified mass graves were found, while more than 4,000 children are believed to be missing.
More details on the visit will be announced in the coming weeks, the Vatican said. The Pope is expected to once again apologize to the victims of school abuse and the families of the victims. This, and it is reported that some 150,000 First Nations boys and girls were forced to enter 139 boarding schools across Canada between the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries as part of a government policy aimed at forced integration.
Source: El Nashra