OTTAWA – Indigenous groups in Canada say they want to see Pope Leo XIV continue the reconciliation work started by his predecessor, the late Pope Francis.
Francis was recognized as an ally of Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and was known for advancing reconciliation efforts and apologizing — both in the Vatican and in Canada — for the Catholic Church’s role in widespread abuses at residential schools.
His visit to Canada in 2022 was described as a “penitential pilgrimage” as Francis insisted on meeting with Indigenous survivors of residential schools and hearing their stories.
Pope Francis also expressed a willingness to return colonial-era artifacts in the Vatican Museum that were acquired from Indigenous people in Canada.
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who was in Rome for Francis’s funeral, said the late pontiff did “a lot of good things.”
Chicago-born Robert Prevost, who has chosen the name Leo XIV, is the first pontiff from the United States, though he worked for many years in Peru.
Woodhouse Nepinak said she welcomes Pope Leo and hopes he will be “open and receptive” to working together.
“I know that we have a lot of work to do but I think we can get there together,” she said. “I think the former pope had left lots of work undone and I think that we want to get back to that.”
Work on repatriating artifacts is “ongoing and we hope to have those discussions with the new Pope” and the Vatican, she said.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a national organization that represents over 65,000 Inuit in Canada, said on social media that it welcomes Leo’s selection.
“We look forward to continuing the productive work we have undertaken with the church on advancing reconciliation with Inuit,” the post says.
“And we hope that under his leadership, the Catholic Church will uphold and strengthen efforts to repatriate cultural heritage and support the priorities of Indigenous communities.”
The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, released in 2015, included a call to action urging the pontiff to travel to Canada to apologize.
Other calls to action included developing education strategies to ensure church congregations learn about their role in colonization, teaching the need to respect Indigenous spirituality and providing permanent funding for culture and language revitalization projects.
Woodhouse Nepinak said there must be an examination of Canada’s progress with the church on the calls to action, given that almost a decade has passed.
“We’re not doing as much as we should have and I think that we have to start measuring that,” she said.
Woodhouse Nepinak also said she hopes Pope Leo will come to Canada and meet with residential school survivors.
She added she is optimistic about his willingness to engage with Indigenous peoples, given his time in South America.
“Working in Peru, he would have been exposed to Indigenous culture, Indigenous ceremony, Indigenous ways of life,” she said. “I’m hoping that he would be open to seeing that here with First Nations in this country and meeting our residential school survivors to fully understand what they went through.”
About 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada. More than 60 per cent of the schools were run by the Catholic Church.
Neil MacCarthy, a spokesman for the Catholic archdiocese of Toronto, said he is “hopeful” that reconciliation work will continue, citing “huge strides” under Pope Francis.
“I think we have to acknowledge a lot was done,” said MacCarthy, who was involved with the Indigenous delegation to Rome in 2022 and the papal visit to Canada. “It was, I think, a whole new chapter, most would agree, in the relationship with the Catholic Church and Indigenous Peoples.”
MacCarthy suggested that moving these issues along will take time.
“Part of that is working with the bishops in Canada and others who’ve been part of this journey and will continue to be moving forward,” MacCarthy said. “I think we all recognize that it’s a journey that needs to continue.”
— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone, Brittany Hobson, Nicole Thompson, Cassandra Szklarski, Fakiha Baig, Nicole Winfield and The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2025.
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