The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) releases a letter thanking Pope Francis for his recent Penitential Pilgrimage to Canada on the opening of its annual plenary Assembly in Cornwall on Monday.
The Bishops of Canada gathered in Cornwall, Ontario, for their Plenary Assembly this week, have written a letter to Pope Francis to “heartfully” thank him for his recent Apostolic visit to their country.
The Pope travelled to Canada from 24 to 30 July. It was a “Penitential Pilgrimage” of healing and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. The visit followed meetings he held in the Vatican at the end of March this year with representatives of the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples sharing their stories of pain and trauma experienced by both former students of Residential Schools and their descendants.
The Canadian Bishops remark that the Pope’s Penitential Pilgrimage has left “a profound and lasting mark on Canada, Indigenous Peoples, and the local and universal Church” in their letter.
They further point out that the Apostolic visit has reinforced their common resolve “to spare no effort” to strengthen their relationship with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada “through mutual respect, greater trust, and sincere friendship”.
The General Assembly of the Canadian Bishops’ Conference (CCCB), which runs from 26 to 29 September, and is held for the first time in-person since 2019, will focus primarily on discussing and discerning the next steps forward in the path of healing and reconciliation, inspired both by the Pope’s Apostolic Visit, as well as by the earnest dialogue which they have endeavoured to build with Indigenous Peoples in the past years.