Canada: Pope Francis in Alberta to deliver apology for residential school abuses

Included in his six-day visit to Canada, the pontiff is also set to travel to Quebec City and Iqaluit.

Francis is expected to apologize for generations of abuse and cultural suppression at Catholic residential schools across Canada after arriving Monday morning at the site of the former Ermineskin Indian Residential School.

Eager to hear a long-awaited apology from Pope Francis at 10 10 am MT, thousands of Indigenous people are expected to gather Monday in the small Alberta prairie community of Maskwacis.

The Pope will reportedly pause at the sites of the former school and nearby cemetery during his visit to Maskwacis before speaking in a large open area to school survivors, their relatives, and other supporters.

A number of live stream interpretation feeds in 12 Indigenous languages and American Sign Language will be available on the official website of the Pope’s visit.

In the afternoon, Pope Francis is set to speak with Indigenous people and parish members at the Sacred Heart Church in Edmonton.

The Pope plans later in the week to host a large outdoor mass at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton and take part in a pilgrimage in nearby Lac Ste. Anne, before traveling to Quebec City and Iqaluit.

With more than 60 percent of the residential schools in Canada run by the Catholic Church, an estimated 150,000 Indigenous children in Canada, suffered neglect, physical and sexual abuse.

Some survivors have been reported as saying that they had been carrying unimaginable trauma for many generations.

As First Nations leaders in Alberta expect the Pope’s presence to open Indigenous people's old wounds, mental health counselors will be at the sites.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)