Mixed emotions at Edmonton Indigenous church on first Sunday after Pope Francis apology – Global News

Emotions ran high on the first Sunday since Pope Francis publicly apologized for the Catholic church’s role in residential schools in Canada.

For Indigenous Catholic members attending mass at Edmonton’s Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, it was a day of joy, but one that is still difficult, as healing from the pains of residential schools continues

“Oh, I feel great today you know, it feels as if a big load has been unloaded from me,” parishioner Yvonne Cardinal said.

“It’s very hard,” said another parishioner, Lorraine Menicoche. “We are trying to figure out how to process it so we came here for prayers and the smudging. It just opened up the wound that I thought was closed.”

The Pope’s much-anticipated apology came Friday, with mixed reaction from residential school survivors.

Read More: https://globalnews.ca/news/8732588/edmonton-mixed-emotions-indigenous-church-pope-apology/