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Pope Francis Visit

Pope Francis to visit Canada in July, Kamloops omitted from initial list of cities

May 13, 2022 | 5:35 AM

Support services are in place for residential school survivors and their families here.

KAMLOOPS — Pope Francis appears to not be visiting Kamloops during his “Apostolic Journey to Canada.”

In a news release Friday (May 13), the Holy See Press Office announced Pope Francis will be travelling to Canada from July 24 to 30, 2022, having accepted invitations from civil and ecclesiastical authorities, as well as Indigenous communities.

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Edmonton, Quebec City, and Iqaluit during that time. The Holy See Press Office says more details about the Pope’s visit to Canada will be made available in the coming weeks.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops had invited the Pope to make an apostolic journey to Canada “also in the context of the long-standing pastoral process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.”

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir had handed Pope Francis a handwritten invitation to visit her territory when First Nations, Inuit, and Métis delegates met with the Pope at the Vatican between March 28 and March 31, 2022. Casimir also gave the Pope an eagle feather beaded in orange with small crosses. It was to serve as a reminder of the children who went to residential schools, she said, and also that “there is still much truth to be uncovered” and the church must play a role.

On April 1, 2022, Pope Francis formally apologized for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools in Canada.

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc confirmed at least 215 potential burial sites at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on May 27, 2021. Since then, many First Nations across Canada began their ground-penetrating radar work.

with files from the Canadian Press