What was the Pope's apology in Canada in 2022?

Pope Francis's apology in Canada in 2022 took place during his six-day 'penitential pilgrimage' visit to Canada from July 24 to 29, 2022. The Pope formally apologised for the Roman Catholic Church's role in the Canadian Indian residential school system at Maskwacis (the Ermineskin Cree Nation reserve in Alberta) on July 25, 2022, and at other locations across Canada. The visit followed his earlier April 1, 2022 apology at the Vatican to a Canadian Indigenous delegation. Pope Francis was the first Pope to deliver a formal apology for residential schools and the first Pope to visit Canada since John Paul II's 1984, 1987, and 2002 visits.

The Catholic Church had operated about 60 per cent of Canada's residential schools (about 80 of 139 schools), compared to about 30 per cent operated by Anglican Church and the rest by the United Church and the Presbyterian Church. Indigenous survivors and advocates had pressed the Vatican for a formal apology since the 1990s. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action of 2015 had specifically called for a Papal apology delivered on Canadian soil (Call to Action 58). Pope Benedict XVI had met a Canadian delegation at the Vatican on April 29, 2009 and expressed sorrow but not apology. Pope Francis's election in March 2013 brought a new pope's perspective.

The April 1, 2022 Vatican audience included Indigenous delegations from the Assembly of First Nations (led by National Chief RoseAnne Archibald), the Métis National Council (led by President Cassidy Caron), and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (led by President Natan Obed). Pope Francis told them: 'For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church I ask for God's forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry'. He also accepted invitations to visit Canada to deliver the apology on Canadian soil.

The July 24 to 29, 2022 Canadian pilgrimage included stops in Edmonton, Maskwacis, Lac Sainte-Anne (Alberta), Quebec City, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (Quebec), and Iqaluit (Nunavut). At Maskwacis on July 25, 2022, Pope Francis kissed the Indigenous flag offered by Chief Wilton Littlechild and delivered his Canadian apology in Spanish through an English interpreter. He acknowledged 'the deplorable evil committed' at residential schools and asked God's forgiveness 'for the wrongs done by so many Christians against the Indigenous peoples'. On the flight back to Rome, Pope Francis specifically acknowledged that residential schools had committed 'genocide' against Indigenous peoples. Indigenous responses were mixed. Many survivors valued the apology; others noted that it did not specifically call for restoration of Catholic Church documents to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission archive, rescission of the Doctrine of Discovery (rescinded by Vatican statement on March 30, 2023), or other specific actions.