“It was therefore a penitential pilgrimage,” Pope Francis said at today’s general audience. “There were many joyful moments, but the overall meaning and tone was reflection, repentance and reconciliation.”

“We are at a different place than we were a week ago in the church’s walk with Indigenous Peoples, a better place.”

Pope Francis will travel next month to Kazakhstan, where he could meet with Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, who has supported Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

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.

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis will visit Kazakhstan in September and attend an interreligious meeting in the capital city, Nur-Sultan.

“The general disposition of the church is one of hospitality, openness and welcome,” writes Archbishop John Wester. “Refusing to baptize children of same-sex couples is not in keeping with this outreach and I find it quite troubling.”

“It’s not strange. It’s not a catastrophe. You can change the pope,” Pope Francis said while sitting in an airplane wheelchair during a 45-minute news conference.

Aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis addresses questions about future travel, the doctrine of discovery, contraception and Germany’s Synodal Way.

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.

After a brochure that demonized traditions of the Oglala Lakota Sioux people was handed out to young people, tribal leaders took action, approving an ordinance that curtails Christian missions at Pine Ridge.