Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Kúkpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir.

Image Credit: Dave Eagles/KTW

A delegation of First Nations representatives set to visit the Vatican this month has postponed the trip due to COVID-19.

Last month, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) announced its list of 13 Indigenous representatives from across Canada that were to fly to Rome to meet with Pope Francis between Dec. 14 and Dec. 21 to discuss reconciliation with the Catholic Church.

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Kúkpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir is one of the delegates and one of just two representing B.C. She said she is disappointed, but understands the need to postpone due to concerns about the Omicron variant of the virus.

“That makes sense, especially with the new Omicron and potential new health risks bringing home,” Casimir said.

She said the AFN, as well as Métis and Inuit delegations and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) are all in agreement to reschedule the trip in the new year.

Casimir said she is relieved the trip is delayed given the potential risk posed by the Omicron variant. She said sees a silver lining in the delay in that it gives her more time to speak with band members regarding the messages they would like her to relay to the pope.

“I was really proud to be part of that delegation from across Canada,” Casimir said, noting she was looking forward to the church acknowledging its role in the residential school system and discussing what reconciliation could look like.

She also hoped to ask the pope to visit Tk’emlúps during his future visit to Canada, which he has agreed to at the invitation from the CCCB.

Casimir envisions that visit occurring at the band’s Powwow Grounds, where Pope Francis would hear from residential school survivors about the institution’s impact on them.

Casimir said she is looking forward to getting more information on when the Vatican trip will be rescheduled and on what dates the pope will travel to Canada.

“We look forward to either going there or for him coming here, whatever comes first,” she said.

The AFN delegates were set to have a one-hour meeting with Pope Francis on Dec. 20 after flying to Rome on Dec. 14.

The delegation was to discuss topics such as reconciliation, unmarked graves and an apology from the pope on behalf of the Catholic Church for its role in the abuses and loss of culture inflicted on residential school attendees.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops was to cover travel costs.

The Vatican trip was planned in the aftermath of revelations the Tk’emlúps band made in May, when it announced it had found signs of 200 probable graves on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School via a ground-penetrating radar survey. Additional findings of unmarked graves were subsequently found at other residential school sites by other bands in B.C. and Saskatchewan.

Pope Francis has expressed sorrow over the findings, but has not made a direct apology on behalf of the Catholic Church, which ran most of the schools across Canada on behalf of the federal government.

The delegation of 13 included two youth representatives and survivors of the residential school system.

— with a file from the Vancouver Sun

— This story was originally published by Kamloops This Week.

News from © iNFOnews, 2021