Pope Francis finished the primary stage of his penitential pilgrimage to Canada last evening at Lac Ste. Anne, which the Nakota Sioux originally called “the Lake of God.” Accompanied by the sound of drums, he got here in the hunt for healing from God, just as Indigenous Peoples have done for hundreds of years.
He arrived on July 26, the feast of St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus, who’s greatly revered by Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Every 12 months, Indigenous pilgrims come to the lake by the hundreds for the feast day.
Vatican organizers had planned for Francis to travel to the lake by golf cart from the nearby shrine, established and managed by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, lower than a 10-minute walk away. However the pilgrim pope opted as an alternative to be pushed in a wheelchair to the lake, accompanied by chiefs of the Indigenous Peoples.
The organizers had arranged for him to go to a platform and bless a bowl of water taken from the lake. But after reciting a prayer and blessing the water, Francis insisted on being rolled within the wheelchair to the sting of the lake. His aides then withdrew and he sat there, eyes closed, deep in prayer while the lots of of Indigenous pilgrims who had come for the occasion watched in silence and prayed, too. The image of him, on their lonesome on the side of the lake, imploring God for healing, will certainly remain as an iconic image of this penitential pilgrimage.
The image of Pope Francis, on their lonesome on the side of the lake, imploring God for healing, will certainly remain as an iconic image of this penitential pilgrimage.
When he finished praying, he first blessed the chiefs, cardinals and bishops who had accompanied him with the water from the lake. Then, as he was wheeled to the shrine, he blessed the Indigenous pilgrims who had come to those sacred waters.
On the shrine, he delivered a profound and provoking homily in Spanish, which was concurrently translated into English for the congregation. He prayed to God, saying: “On this blessed place, where harmony and peace reign, we present to you the disharmony of our experiences, the terrible effects of colonization, the indelible pain of so many families, grandparents and kids. Help us to be healed of our wounds.”
Imploring the assistance of Jesus, he said:
We all know that this requires effort, care and concrete actions on our part; but we also know that we cannot do that alone. We depend on you and on the intercession of your mother and your grandmother. Yes, because moms and grandmothers help to heal the injuries of our hearts.
The primary Latin American pope reminded the Indigenous People in Canada that “on the dramatic time of the conquest, Our Lady of Guadalupe transmitted the true faith to the Indigenous People, speaking their very own language and clothed in their very own garments, without violence or imposition.”
He concluded his homily with these words:
Dear Indigenous brothers and sisters, I actually have come here as a pilgrim also to say to you the way precious you might be to me and to the church. I would like the church to be intertwined with you, as tightly woven because the threads of the coloured bands that lots of you wear. May the Lord help us to maneuver forward within the healing process, towards an ever more healthy and renewed future. I feel that this can also be the wish of your grandmothers and your grandfathers. May the grandparents of Jesus, Saints Joachim and Anne, bless us on our journey.
They applauded with passion and beat their ceremonial drums as Francis bade farewell and drove back to St. Joseph’s Seminary in Edmonton, where he has been staying since his arrival on July 24.
Earlier within the day, he celebrated Mass within the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton for a congregation of fifty,000 Indigenous and native people. Before presiding at Mass, he drove across the stadium within the popemobile and kissed a variety of babies and really young children, to the enjoyment of all present.
The primary Latin American pope reminded the Indigenous People in Canada that “on the dramatic time of the conquest, Our Lady of Guadalupe transmitted the true faith to the Indigenous People.”
Throughout the Mass, he delivered a profoundly spiritual reflection, during which he spoke about grandparents—theirs, his and people of Jesus. The homily may very well be described as autobiographical, drawing on his personal experience along with his own grandmother, Rosa, who so influenced his life of religion. Within the homily, he linked in a masterly way his own life experience along with his grandmother with the deepest traditions of the Indigenous Peoples, who revere their grandparents and elders.
Indeed, giving full value to the traditions of the Indigenous Peoples has been one in every of the recurring elements in his talks during this penitential pilgrimage. While the colonizing mentality sought to discard, erode and eliminate the culture, identity and traditions of the Indigenous Peoples through a strategy of assimilation into the culture of Europe, Francis is doing exactly the other. He’s giving recognition to their culture and traditions and alluring the Catholic community in Canada to do likewise, as a crucial a part of the journey of healing and reconciliation.
Pope Francis began that journey last Sunday along with his arrival on the airport, where he kissed the hand of an Indigenous woman, Alma Sejarlls. She told me she was “deeply honored” by that gesture. The next day on the Pow-Wow Park, sitting among the many chiefs of those Indigenous Peoples, he humbly asked their forgiveness for all they’d suffered from the residential school system, during which the church played a significant role. He made what an editorial in The Globe and Mail described as “a sincere, specific and strategic apology.” He asked forgiveness, saying “I’m sorry,” with an evident sincerity that drew strong applause from the Indigenous chiefs, survivors, knowledge keepers and intergenerational survivors within the audience, lots of whom were in tears.
For my part, if he continues with this physical energy, we will expect to see him in Kyiv sometime in August or September.
They applauded again when he endorsed their appeal for “truth telling” concerning the fate of the greater than 4,000 missing children who attended and died on the residential schools. He kissed the hand of Chief Wilton Littlechild, who placed a chief’s headdress on the pinnacle of the pope. Several chiefs have expressed satisfaction and happiness at his apology. Many are still digesting it, while others have yet to come back on board. As Phil Fontaine, a longtime national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said: “We’ll always remember, but we must forgive. And forgiveness doesn’t mean we’re lesser people.”
When Francis met with Indigenous leaders on the Vatican in March, Elder Fred Kelly gave the pope the name “Wabbi Ginew,” which suggests “White Eagle.” He later explained that “in my vision [the name] flies with the white dove of Christianity.” Pope Francis has now been given a chief’s headdress and an Indigenous name.
True to that name, Francis is moving like an eagle on this trip, notwithstanding his mobility problems. He’s visibly joyful to be here and is finding ways to beat his physical limitations, including when he reached out to the gang outside the church of the Sacred Heart in Edmonton from his wheelchair, much to the alarm of his security detail.
“He made us run for our money,” an officer within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told me. For my part, if he continues with this physical energy, we will expect to see him in Kyiv sometime in August or September.
Pope Francis’ apology got here at the start of his penitential pilgrimage, and it’s being generally well received. He’ll unfold other elements of that apology, in his seek for healing and reconciliation, through statements and gestures through the next two stages of that pilgrimage, first in Quebec, where he goes on Wednesday, after which to Iqaluit on Friday morning, July 29, before returning to Rome.