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Pope Francis in Canada
Pope Francis is welcomed by Indigenous leaders during a welcoming ceremony at Edmonton International Airport July 24. The pope was beginning a six-day visit to Canada. (CNS/Paul Haring)
Pope Francis is set visit to Canada from July 24-30, where he is expected to issue an apology on Canadian soil for the Catholic Church's involvement in the country's abuse-ridden residential schools, fulfilling a long sought after request by the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Thomas Reese: Pope Francis' six-day pastoral visit to Canada was a great success. It wasn't until the news conference on the plane back to Rome that it became clear he wasn't properly briefed for his visit.
Colonialism, attempted cultural genocide and the specific evils of the boarding schools are facts of history. But Pope Francis modeled authentic attempts at reconciliation.
Three years after the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, which contained the demand for an apology for residential schools, Francis rushed to canonize a man who perpetrated very similar harms.
Timothy Schmalz says his new sculpture, Mary, Untier of Knots, parallels the pope's actions during his visit to Canada: "looking directly at the church's historical problems" and trying to right them.