China News Agency, Toronto, July 24 (Reporter Yu Ruidong) Pope Francis flew to Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, Canada on July 24, and started a 6-day "repentance" trip in Canada to promote the search for Catholicism. Reconciliation with Aboriginal Canadians over the dark history of boarding schools for Aboriginal children.
The Governor-General of Canada, Mary Simon, who is of Inuit descent, dressed in aboriginal costumes, greeted the Pope at the airport with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, representatives of aboriginal groups and churches.
This is the fourth visit by a pope to Canada and the first by a current pope.
In addition to Edmonton and surrounding areas, the 85-year-old Pope will also travel to Quebec City, the capital of Quebec, and Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut.
During the period, he will visit the former site of the Aboriginal boarding school and meet with representatives of the Aboriginal people.
The Pope said on an online social platform before his arrival in Canada that he hoped the "repentance" journey would help the reconciliation process that has already begun.
From the end of March to the beginning of April this year, three delegations of aboriginal Canadians held several meetings with the Pope in the Vatican, calling on the Holy See to take concrete actions to promote the Catholic Church to achieve reconciliation with the aboriginal people in Canada on dark historical issues such as boarding schools for aboriginal children.
Pope Francis on April 1 issued a "historic" apology for the role of the Catholic Church in Canada's Aboriginal boarding school system and said he planned to visit Canada in July.
The three officially recognized Aboriginal groups in Canada include the Indians (also known as First Nations), the Inuit and the Métis who were born after the intermarriage of early European immigrants and Aboriginal people.
After the establishment of the Canadian Confederation, a boarding school system was gradually established in order to enforce the "assimilation" of aboriginal people.
More than 150,000 Aboriginal children have been sent to boarding schools for segregated education.
Schools are mostly run by the Catholic Church.
The system has existed for over a hundred years.
The last boarding school was closed until 1996.
Statistics show that thousands of children died in boarding schools.
Since May 2021, a large number of children's remains or unmarked graves have been found at the former Aboriginal boarding school sites in many parts of Canada.
More than 1,000 remains or tombs have been discovered accumulatively.
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