For the first time since the start of a Canadian tour highlighted by apologies for the church's role in Indigenous residential schools, Pope Francis on Thursday acknowledged the sexual abuse inflicted on “minors and vulnerable people.”
Speaking at a prayer service at Quebec City's Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica-Cathedral, Francis said the Catholic Church in Canada is on a new path after being devastated by “the evil perpetrated by some of its sons and daughters.”
Indigenous people have been expressing a mixture of hope and skepticism over the Pope's visit, with some saying on Thursday they want to hear about the actions that will follow the pontiff's historic apologies. The women said they hadn't travelled from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., planning to protest but changed their minds after being offended by what they saw as a lack of Indigenous representation and care for survivors at Wednesday's papal events.
Jackie Gull-Barney, from the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi in northern Quebec, said before the service that she was hoping to find healing and peace from the Pope's visit. Hundreds gathered outside the basilica in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre, Que., to listen to Pope Francis lead the second mass of his Canadian tour, which he has called a pilgrimage of penance.
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