Pope commits to Canadian visit to help healing with Indigenous people

The head of the Catholic Church is coming back to Canada.

The Vatican said on Wednesday Pope Francis has agreed to visit Canada to help ongoing efforts at reconciliation with Indigenous peoples following revelations of the Catholic church’s role in the abuse and deaths of thousands of children.

A date for the pontiff’s visit has yet to be determined.

A few months ago, Francis agreed to meet in December with residential school survivors who are calling for a papal apology for the Catholic Church’s role.

At that time, the bishops conference said the pontiff had invited the delegations to the Vatican and would meet separately with three groups — First Nations, Metis and Inuit — during their December 17th to 20th visit.

The last papal visit to Canada was in 2002 when Pope John Paul II attended World Youth Day in Toronto.