First Nations delegates meet with Pope Francis with ‘high expectations’ for apology

Phil Fontaine, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said delegates made a document to leave behind to help guide the church and the Pope on reconciliation.

First Nations delegates met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday.

It marked the second time Phil Fontaine has met a pope and requested an apology from the Roman Catholic Church for its role in residential schools.

The former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says circumstances are much different now than when he asked former pope Benedict apologize in 2009.

Fontaine put abuses at the schools in the national spotlight in 1990 when he spoke about his own experiences as a child at the Fort Alexander Residential School in Manitoba.

He says the recent discoveries of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools has put an incredible pressure on the Catholic Church.

Fontaine and 12 other First Nations delegates were scheduled to have one hour with the Pope.

“The whole world is watching,” Fontaine said. “And that’s quite a bit of pressure on the church.”

Metis and Inuit residential school survivors and leaders met with Francis on Monday.