Pope Francis is expected to join tens of thousands of people at Edmonton’s football stadium today for a public mass.
The pontiff is set to address Indigenous groups, residential and day school survivors, elders, knowledge keepers and Catholics during the hour-long mass at Commonwealth Stadium.
Organizers said the mass is taking place on the feast day of St. Anne who was the grandmother of Jesus and is a day of particular reverence for Indigenous Catholics.
Later in the day, the Pope is expected to travel to Lac Ste. Anne, northwest of Edmonton, to take part in the community’s annual pilgrimage.
The Pope’s second full day of events comes a day after he apologized to residential school survivors and their families for the role the Roman Catholic Church played in the cultural destruction and forced assimilation of Indigenous Peoples.
Later in the week Francis is expected to travel to Quebec City for meetings with Indigenous Peoples and to host another mass. He will also travel to Iqaluit.