Pope Francis to visit Canada in ‘pilgrimage of penance’ over church-run schools

Pope Francis meeting Indigenous delegations from Canada at the Vatican in April. Photograph: Vatican Media/Reuters

Pope Francis will spend the next week on a “pilgrimage of penance” in Canada, meeting with Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors as he looks to atone for the church’s grim legacy in the country.

For the first papal visit to Canada in two decades, the pontiff plans to visit First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities as he travels from Alberta to Quebec, ending his visit in the Arctic territory of Nunavut.