Manitoba Métis Federation prepares for meeting with Pope

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This article was published 10/04/2022 (1623 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba Métis Federation delegation is set to meet with the Pope in Rome later this month in an effort to encourage the religious leader to visit Canada.

The Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), the government of the Red River Métis, will be travelling to the Vatican on April 21.

The delegation of 55 members includes survivors, cabinet members, knowledge keepers and youth. The full delegation will arrive on April 18 and will spend time at the Vatican before visiting churches in Italy.

“I’m very pleased that Pope Francis has done what he’s done. I think he has truly put out the olive branch that Catholic Church wants to make amends. The Catholic Church wants to work with us,” MMF president David Chartrand said. “Now it’s my job to convince him to come here.”

The meeting marks a historic moment as it will be the first time the Red River Métis will sit for a face-to-face meeting with the Pope.

The federation’s goal is to spark a revitalization of the church on the Prairies, Chartrand said, after the historic apology for the Catholic Church’s role in Canadian residential schools earlier this month. This makes his trip to the Vatican essential so he can address citizen concerns, he said.

“As the Métis government of Red River, we want to work with the churches, we want to work with the people that need counselling, need support, that need healing.

“The church is still important to us and will continue to be important to us for generations to come.”

On April 1, the Pope delivered an apology to Indigenous delegates for the wrongs of Indian residential schools in Canada, as well as for the conduct of members of the Roman Catholic Church within that system. That apology followed a week of discussion with members of First Nation, Inuit and Métis populations, as they offered testimonies in his presence about what they have experienced as Indigenous peoples in Canada.

The Pope said he may travel to Canada and visit former residential school sites, an idea that has been welcomed by many.

These conversations will only gain deeper meaning if they can take place on Red River Métis soil, Chartrand said.

The papal apology made Chartrand’s heart smile, he said, and it was important to hear these words of acknowledgement come from the Pope.

“We know it’s not all priests, it’s not all nuns. It’s individuals that represented the church that perpetuated these horrific actions against children,” Chartrand said. “The damage is known by everyone now.”

More than 150,000 First Nation, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend residential schools for more than a century when the Canadian government enacted a policy to assimilate Indigenous children, breaking them from their cultures, families and languages. The Catholic and Anglican churches ran most of the schools for the government, where children were subjected to rampant emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

“They [First Nations] have a right to be given a priority,” Chartrand said. “But, I also believe the Pope needs to come and meet with the Red River Métis.”

If the Pope comes to Canada to visit Red River Métis soil, it will convey a powerful message of support and revitalization, Chartrand said.

“Admitting it happened is a big process.”

The papal apology makes it easier to pursue revitalization on the Prairies because healing can begin.

“Truth must be first and he [the Pope] has admitted this has happened,” Chartrand said. “The church is dying and that’s one of the great failures that the church has done — denying that it actually happened, but proof came after decades.”

» ckemp@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press

» Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp