Pope arrives in Canada to make amends for Indigenous school abuse

Pope Francis arrived Sunday in Canada, where he is expected to personally apologise to Indigenous survivors of abuse committed over a span of decades at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

The head of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics landed at Edmonton's international airport shortly after 11 am, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcoming him in an airport ceremony that began with the playing of Native American drums.

During the 10-hour flight from Rome Francis told journalists travelling with him that "we must be aware that this is a penitential journey."

The 85-year-old pontiff's Canada visit is primarily to apologize to survivors for the Church's role in the scandal that a national truth and reconciliation commission has called "cultural genocide".

From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada's government sent about 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children into 139 residential schools run by the Church, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture. 

Many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers.

Thousands of children are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect. 

Since May 2021, more than 1,300 unmarked graves have been discovered at the sites of the former schools. 

A delegation of Indigenous peoples travelled to the Vatican in April and met the pope -- a precursor to Francis' six-day trip -- after which he formally apologised.