Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir hopes papal visit to Edmonton will be a meaningful step forward in truth and reconciliation

TK’EMLUPS TE SECWEPEMC — Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir left for Edmonton Sunday (July 23) morning. When she and a delegation of Tk’emlups community members arrive there, they will see Pope Francis for a second time.

Casimir hopes that Francis has been thoughtful since she and other delegates visited the Vatican in late March.

“My hope is that he had time and opportunity to reflect [on] the painful past and the trauma that have been inflicted on First Nations, Indigenous and Inuit people,” said Casimir.

Casimir says she wants as many opportunities as possible to be present with Pope Francis.

“We really want that partnership, that relationship to be moving forward in a good way. This is a meaningful step. It’s a pivotal point in history,” she said.

“The reckoning of the past but also making some positive steps forward.”

Casimir says she wants work in truth and reconciliation to begin with local Catholic organizations.

“It is about having that mandate from the highest level to be working with the local dioceses, with all First Nations, to be able to make steps moving forward to truly reconcile,” she said.

The papal visit starts in Edmonton on July 24, ends in Iqaluit on July 29 and is to include both public and private events with an emphasis on Indigenous participation.

The pope is to begin the week visiting the Ermineskin Indian Residential School in Alberta with survivors before attending an Indigenous church in downtown Edmonton.

Francis is expected to deliver an apology for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools.

Casimir says the apology will be meaningful for many survivors.

“I know that they are taking this journey because it’s important for them, very important for part of their healing,” she said.

She also hopes people across the country find meaning in the Pope’s apology.

“When you’re looking at reconciliation, it’s not only for us as First Nations, it’s for all of us. The painful past, the trauma,” she said.

“For so many, they just learned about the residential school system and [it’s a] true history that we all need to change together to be able to look at a positive future and to be able to reconcile that past.”