Welcome ceremony held for pope at Edmonton airport

Pope Francis listened to traditional drumming and greeted Indigenous leaders in a ceremony in an airport after he arrived in Edmonton on Sunday. The pontiff flew from Rome to Edmonton, Alberta, where his welcoming party included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary May Simon, an Inuk who is Canada’s first Indigenous governor general.

During his visit to Canada, Francis aims to apologize to Indigenous peoples for abuses by missionaries at residential schools, a key step in the Catholic Church’s efforts to reconcile with Native communities and help them heal from generations of trauma. A succession of Indigenous leaders and elders greeted the pope and exchanged gifts.