Prayers and apologies: Why these two groups are on a pilgrimage for the Pope

David Chartrand made a promise to the Pope when he visited the Vatican in April: If Pope Francis was too ill to make it to Manitoba to visit members of his Métis community, Chartrand said he would bring them to him.

On July 25, Chartrand will make good on that promise.

Chartrand is the president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, and he is bringing over 100 survivors, elders and Métis delegates to Maskwacis in Alberta to hear the Pope speak on First Nation land.

“This is a very, very historic event that’s about to take place, and something that’s long overdue. Something that everybody is waiting for, over a century sometimes," he said. 

“The apology means everything to us. I think it’s the true beginning of the healing. It’s the true beginning of the reconciliation. By him coming to our soil, coming to our lands and apologizing, it’s going to mean a lot to us.”

Chartrand said the Métis have strong ties to Catholicism, and were responsible for pushing the religion into the prairies, building churches and dividing their communities into parishes. He said the church still plays a pivotal role in Metis spirituality and ceremony.

This is one reason Chartrand is worried about recent schedule changes and cancellations by the Pope: it’s vital that his people are able to participate.

The Commonwealth Stadium mass in Edmonton will be too crowded and too large for the elders, Chartrand said. So, despite some limitations on the First Nation, their only option to see the Pope will be in Maskwacis when Francis visits the former site of a residential school.

Chartrand is clear that he respects the rules and procedures being laid out by Maskwacis for the visit, but it leaves him wondering how his people will fit into the event.

“We will not be allowed to give a gift. We will not be allowed to speak as the Métis. But we’re in their territory, we’ve got to respect that,” Chartrand said.

“Right now we’re all in pins and needles. I just want to make sure that everything is good for my people.”

Chartrand said the Pope's trip brings a lot of pressure; time is a very real factor for elders and the ailing Pope.

“It’s going to be the new beginning for those who need the apology so badly, that need that healing so badly, that need that ability to forgive,” Chartrand said. “It will be the new beginning of moving forward.”

“I think he’s the right pope for the prayer and at the same time for the apology. The next pope might not be the same. So all this means so much to us.”

In addition to the Métis from Manitoba, another delegation of survivors will be heading to Maskwacis from Saskatchewan.

Lisa Polk, director of pastoral services for the Archdiocese of Regina, said the archdiocese will bring elders and survivors who attended the residential schools while they were still run by the Catholic church.

“This is a chance for the church to be able to help start on reparations,” Polk said.

She said the church is responsible for helping to heal the damage and hurt caused by how schools were operated. The group has people attending all three of the papal events, but Polk said the main focus will be the event at Maskwacis, because this is where the Pope is likely to offer an apology.

“What we’ve heard from survivors is that it’s really important that the Pope is coming on to their land and making that apology here,” said Polk. “To hear that apology on their land is a really key piece of what we’ve heard in enabling their healing to continue.”

Because they are focusing on Catholic residential school survivors, Polk said most of their group are older and each person will be accompanied by a support person to help them manage and be comfortable during whichever events they choose to interact with. 

“Everybody is on such a different journey,” Polk said. “So there are some people who are approaching this trip with lots of joy and hopefulness. There are many people who are coming into this trip very cynical and not really knowing what could possibly come from it.”

Chartrand said that not everyone will be happy with the Pope’s apology, but he believes that the Red River Métis will.

He said, despite the pain and hurt that still needs healing, there is good in the church and the relationship with Catholicism remains strong among the Métis. He adds that part of his journey with the Pope is to see how the relationship can be rekindled and address a lack of priests in his community.

“A lot of our Elders have told us this is not the church. It’s not the Bible doing this. It’s not the church doing this. It’s individuals that entered the cloak of the church that did this,” Chartrand said.

“History has a way of reflecting back and teaching you things. And history also tells us, you learn from your past as the elders tell us, but you change the words to the future to make it better.”