July 24, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario
This week, we look back on the time we spent with Pope Francis during his pastoral visit to Canada from July 27-29, 2022. ITK was honoured to join a delegation of Inuit that travelled to Maskwacis in Alberta to hear the Pope’s apology for the harms and intergenerational traumas inflicted on First Nations, Métis and Inuit. In his first public address on Canadian soil, the Pope said he was deeply sorry for the evil committed by so many Christians against Indigenous peoples.
At the end of his visit, Inuit hosted Pope Francis in Iqaluit for the only northern stop on his short Canadian visit. He met privately with Inuit survivors and intergenerational survivors, and in a community address interpreted into Inuktut and English, said, “I want to tell you how very sorry I am.”
Over the past year, ITK has remained committed to working with the Catholic Church to advance reconciliation. We continue to call on the Church, and Pope Francis as head of the Church, to take action to ensure that Johannes Rivoire is held to account for crimes committed against Inuit children.
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