Pope Francis receiving a headdress elicits heated emotions amongst First Nations communities
Global News
Pope Francis was gifted a headdress after he apologized for the Catholic Church's role in residential schools. It's a gesture steeped in symbolism, but not everyone agrees with it.
Pope Francis being gifted a headdress by Chief Wilton Littlechild was a powerful and symbolic moment — but the symbolism is not sitting well with everyone.
The Pope was given the headdress on Treaty 6 territory, in the central Alberta First Nations community of Maskwacis, after he apologized for the Catholic Church’s role in the residential school system on Monday.
The apology came with cheering from the crowd, and some people were weeping. Soon after, Chief Littlechild went on stage and placed a headdress on Pope Francis’ head.
The former member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission attended residential schools for 14 years as a child in Alberta.
It was a stunning image: Francis briefly wearing the full Indigenous headdress, its rows of soft white feathers fastened in place by a colorful, beaded headband.
The Vatican and the pope clearly appreciated the gesture: Francis kissed Littlechild’s hands after receiving the headdress, something he has done in the past as a sign of respect for Holocaust survivors, and has done on this trip for residential school survivors.
The Vatican obviously understood the symbolic significance of the moment, putting the photo on the front page of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano under the headline “I humbly beg forgiveness.”
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