Pope Francis arrives in Canada on Sunday, marking the first papal visit to the country in 20 years. He is expected to apologize for the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the residential school system, an in-person follow-up to his historic apology in April.
Cardinal Michael Czerny will join the pope, who will take part in his first papal trip. The Canadian was made a cardinal just two years ago by Pope Francis.
Before leaving for his visit, Czerny sat down for an exclusive interview with CTV National News to discuss what he expects the trip to accomplish.
“It’s always important to include not just repairing the past, but building a new future. And that’s what I think makes it all so important,” Czerny told CTV National News Manitoba bureau chief Jill Macyshon at the Vatican.
“It’s not primarily about the past, but primarily about the future.”
Czerny said he expects the pope’s visit to lead to a “sincere and respectful dialogue” that could eventually lead to a “partnership” between the Roman Catholic Church and Indigenous communities in Canada.
An estimated 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada for a century. The Catholic Church ran about 60% of the institutions. The last boarding school closed in 1996.
Czerny said what the reconciliation will look like “remains to be seen.”
“What reconciliation would look like depends very much on the Indigenous peoples of Canada, on the Church in this particular case, but in general on all faith communities and all Canadians,” Czerny said.
Watch the exclusive interview with Cardinal Michael Czerny at the top of the article.