Indigenous leaders remember Pope Francis as someone who 'gave voice to the voiceless'

Pope Francis has left behind a legacy of compassion around the globe — including the far reaches of the Canadian Arctic, says the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president.

The pope died on Monday at the age of 88, after being the head of the Catholic Church for 12 years.

President Natan Obed first met Francis at an Inuit delegation meeting in Vatican City during the spring of 2022. Toward the end, he says he politely invited the pope to visit the North.

It's a moment Obed says he'll always cherish. 

"He was receiving interpretation throughout the whole meeting," Obed told CBC News.

"He listened to the request, and he chuckled and he said in English, 'Yes, but not in winter.'"

Months later, Francis honoured Obed's request.

Francis visited Iqaluit, Nunavut during his papal visit to Canada in 2022, which was part of a historic six-day "pilgrimage of penance" during which he met with Indigenous people across the country.

"During that time, he heard from survivors… he heard very difficult stories," Obed said.

Francis also apologized for what he called "evil perpetrated by not a few Catholics" in Canada's residential school system.

Former Grand Chief of the Innu Nation Etienne Rich was present when Francis led mass at a stop in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, Québec. Rich, along with other Canadian Indigenous leaders, was sitting in the front row as Francis spoke.

"It was very tremendously powerful," Rich said in an interview on CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

Rich says the weight of Francis' words was felt by many of the Labrador Innu in attendance that July day.

An apology should have come from the Catholic Church a long time ago, Rich says, but he believes a large number of people accepted it.

"A lot of those young children who were attending the residential schools, some of them… never went back home," Rich said.

"That's one of the [most] powerful things that you could ever do or ever ask — forgiveness," said Rich.

Obed says there is still work to be done with the Catholic Church, but Francis' apology "gave voice to the voiceless."

"For the Catholic Church to apologize directly to residential school survivors is meaningful," said Obed.

There are many leaders who would be whisked away by their handlers in certain situations, but he says Francis never shied away from connecting with people.

During a particular meeting in Iqaluit, "Pope Francis showed in that moment and to the people in that room that he was there for them," said Obed.

"He would sit with them and feel that pain and that sorrow and that suffering that they felt."

When Obed remembers the pontiff, he says he thinks of someone who had wit, "was genuine, empathetic and also gave space and time for anyone" who met him.

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