Quebec Indigenous leaders concerned elders’ needs not considered for papal visit

As final preparations are made for Pope Francis' visit to Quebec in a few days, there is concern that some residential school survivors, who're now elders, will be left out.

Preparations are well underway in Quebec City for the visit of Pope Francis a week from now.

The stop will be part of his trip to Canada and he’s expected to apologize to Indigenous Peoples for atrocities at Catholic residential schools.

“The visit is significant because for survivors, for people who’ve gone through the school system, it’ll probably be a way for them to help with their own reconciliation,” explained Chadwick Cowie, assistant professor in the political science department at the University of Toronto.

But many are afraid that some of those survivors, who’re now elders, will be left out.

There will be two gatherings in the province. The first is Wednesday at the Plains of Abraham, which is open to the public – tens of thousands are expected.

The main Quebec event is a mass next Thursday at the basilica in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, northeast of Quebec City, where the Pope is expected to apologize.

“The mass is at 10 o’clock in the morning, so the logistics are very tricky because you have to be in a certain area by 6 o’clock in the morning,” Arnold Boyer, Council Chief at Mohawk community on Montreal’s south shore told Global News.

He doesn’t know if any residential school survivors in Kahnawá:ke will be able to attend the mass.