Indigenous leaders remember Pope Francis as someone who 'gave voice to the voiceless'

Maddie Ryan · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 26, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Pope Francis has near down a bequest of compassion astir the globe — including the acold reaches of the Canadian Arctic, says the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president.

The pope died connected Monday astatine the property of 88, aft being the caput of the Catholic Church for 12 years.

President Natan Obed archetypal met Francis at an Inuit delegation gathering successful Vatican City during the outpouring of 2022. Toward the end, helium says helium politely invited the pope to sojourn the North.

It's a infinitesimal Obed says he'll ever cherish. 

"He was receiving mentation passim the full meeting," Obed told CBC News.

"He listened to the request, and helium chuckled and helium said successful English, 'Yes, but not successful winter.'"

Months later, Francis honoured Obed's request.

Francis visited Iqaluit, Nunavut during his papal sojourn to Canada successful 2022, which was portion of a historical six-day "pilgrimage of penance" during which helium met with Indigenous radical crossed the country.

"During that time, helium heard from survivors… helium heard precise hard stories," Obed said.

Francis besides apologized for what helium called "evil perpetrated by not a fewer Catholics" successful Canada's residential schoolhouse system.

Former Grand Chief of the Innu Nation Etienne Rich was present erstwhile Francis led wide astatine a halt in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec. Rich, on with different Canadian Indigenous leaders, was sitting successful the beforehand enactment arsenic Francis spoke.

"It was precise tremendously powerful," Rich said successful an interrogation connected CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

Rich says the value of Francis' words was felt by galore of the Labrador Innu successful attendance that July day.

An apology should person travel from the Catholic Church a agelong clip ago, Rich says, but helium believes a ample fig of radical accepted it.

"A batch of those young children who were attending the residential schools, immoderate of them… ne'er went backmost home," Rich said.

"That's 1 of the [most] almighty things that you could ever bash oregon ever inquire — forgiveness," said Rich.

Obed says determination is inactive enactment to beryllium done with the Catholic Church, but Francis' apology "gave dependable to the voiceless."

"For the Catholic Church to apologize straight to residential schoolhouse survivors is meaningful," said Obed.

There are galore leaders who would beryllium whisked distant by their handlers successful definite situations, but he says Francis ne'er shied distant from connecting with people.

During a peculiar gathering successful Iqaluit, "Pope Francis showed successful that infinitesimal and to the radical successful that country that helium was determination for them," said Obed.

"He would beryllium with them and consciousness that symptom and that sorrow and that suffering that they felt."

When Obed remembers the pontiff, helium says helium thinks of idiosyncratic who had wit, "was genuine, empathetic and besides gave abstraction and clip for anyone" who met him.

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