Eel River Bar First Nation delegate to travel to Vatican City to meet Pope Francis
CBC
A New Brunswick Indigenous woman will be part of a historic meeting set to take place between a 30-person Indigenous delegation and Pope Francis in Vatican City.
Rosalie LaBillois, of Eel River Bar First Nation, will travel with Elders, knowledge keepers, residential school survivors and youth to meet the Pope at the end of the month.
Delegates were chosen by the organizations representing Inuit, Métis and First Nations — the Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
WATCH / Delegate speaks about heading to the Vatican to seek an apology from the pope
The delegation will seek a formal apology from the Roman Catholic Church for its role in running residential schools.
In the history of the institution, a formal apology has never been issued.
LaBillois said the delegation wants to convey to Pope Francis the reality of the pain that residential school survivors still carry with them.
"We want the Vatican to understand that these stories are true and...the Roman Catholic Church, all that they embody, had a really big part to play in that and that has to be acknowledged." said LaBillois.
"That truth is still being uncovered across the country. Many of these former residential school sites, they're still finding the remains of of children that have attended those schools. There's still records that are being held by the churches that are being held by their government...those are truths and they have to be released."
LaBillois's grandfather was also a survivor of Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in Nova Scotia.
That carries profound weight for her as she considers what needs to be accomplished during this meeting.
"It wasn't an easy decision to come to." said LaBillois, who is also co-chair of the Assembly of First Nations National Youth Council.
"I had to recognize that this does take you away from another survivor's story in that sense...but instead of seeing myself as like an impostor, I had to see that and acknowledge my own lived experiences and of my family."
Planning for the meeting at Vatican City has taken a number of years and LaBillois was selected to be part of the delegation last fall.
