By Kevin Dougherty and Philip Pullella
QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Wednesday met with Canadian political leaders in Quebec City, a diplomatic stopover for the main purpose of his trip to the country, to apologize for the Church’s role in running boarding schools for natives in which abuses were frequent.
Arriving in the Quebec capital on the fourth day of his trip to Canada, the pontiff sat in a wheelchair and smiled as he was greeted on the airport tarmac by indigenous representatives and political leaders.
The pope was received at the Citadel, which sits on the banks of the St. Lawrence. Lawrence, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a long guard of honor who wore red uniforms and black bearskin hats.
The Citadel of Quebec is the largest British fortress built in North America. It overlooks a park called the Plains of Abraham, where the Pope’s address to dignitaries will be broadcast later. It is also one of the official residences of the Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, who represents Queen Elizabeth, Head of State of Canada.
The pontiff first met Simon, who is the first native to hold the office of governor general. Afterwards, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has made reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples one of his political priorities, will speak privately with François.
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