“We are at a different place than we were a week ago in the church’s walk with Indigenous Peoples, a better place.”
Gerard O’Connell
Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
Posted inFaith, Interviews
Interview: Mandy Gull-Masty, the first female grand chief of the Cree Nation, reflects on Pope Francis’ Canada visit
An exclusive interview with Mandy Gull-Masty, the grand chief of the Cree Nation and the first woman to hold that post, about Pope Francis’ visit to Canada and the future of the reconciliation process.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
On plane, Pope Francis discusses ‘cultural genocide,’ contraception and German synod
Aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis addresses questions about future travel, the doctrine of discovery, contraception and Germany’s Synodal Way.
Posted inFaith, News Analysis
Despite rocky relations with the Vatican, Justin Trudeau and Canadian leaders commend Pope Francis’ apology to Indigenous Peoples
In Quebec, Pope Francis spent time meeting with Canadian government officials about the rights of Indigenous peoples, a substantial step in the at times tenuous relationship between the Holy See and Canada.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
‘Never again!’ Pope Francis apologizes for clergy sexual abuse for the first time on Canada trip
“I would like once more to ask forgiveness of all the victims,” the pope said in a homily at Quebec’s Notre Dame Cathedral. “The pain and the shame we feel must become an occasion for conversion: Never again!”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
The most profound images and words of Pope Francis’ Canada trip (so far)
The image of Pope Francis, all alone on the side of the lake, imploring God for healing, will surely remain as an iconic image of this penitential pilgrimage.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis condemns forced assimilation of Canada’s residential schools as ‘incompatible with the Gospel’
Pope Francis condemned Canada’s residential school system as “a deplorable evil” and asked forgiveness of the Indigenous Peoples for Christians participation in it.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis’ historic trip to the Indigenous People in Canada: What you need to know
From July 24 to July 29, Pope Francis will meet with Indigenous People in Canada to apologize and ask forgiveness, on their land, for abuses perpetrated in largely Catholic Church-run residential schools.
Posted inPolitics & Society
Interview: The Vatican has a ‘very positive relationship’ with the Biden administration
Archbishop Gallagher on U.S.-Vatican relations, the Holy See joining the Paris climate agreement and where Pope Francis hopes to visit in the coming year.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vatican Dispatch
Interview: The future of Vatican-China relations, and whether the agreement on bishops has paid off
Four years after the Holy See and China reached a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops, Archbishop Paul Gallagher says the results are “not terribly impressive.”