‘The Pope who listened’: Nunavut remembers Pope Francis

Pope Francis, who died Monday at the age of 88, is being remembered in Nunavut for his historic trip to Iqaluit in 2022 as the first pontiff to visit the territory.

“It’s a very sad day for a lot of us, but at the same time it’s a joyful thing because of what he had done specifically for Indigenous Peoples in Canada and mainly here in Nunavut,” said Paul Quassa, a former Nunavut premier, in an interview.

The Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis suffered a stroke and cardiac arrest in the early morning hours Monday, following a year of declining health.

Francis’s death brings to a close a papacy marked by efforts to address historical wrongs, including the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s residential school system.

On July 29, 2022, Pope Francis concluded his six-day “pilgrimage of penance” to Canada with a three-hour stop in Iqaluit.

Inside the Nakasuk Elementary School gymnasium, he met privately with around 100 Inuit residential school survivors. Originally scheduled to last 45 minutes, the session ran for nearly double that time. Quassa was among those who shared their stories with the pontiff.

“Whenever he spoke, it went right into our hearts,” said Quassa.

“It will be remembered from generation to generation because he was the very first pope that ever really came to Nunavut and that itself spoke of his will to meet Inuit in person,” he said.

What struck Quassa most deeply was Pope Francis’s apology — delivered not only in English but also in Inuktitut.

Later that evening, outside the school, Pope Francis spoke before a crowd of roughly 1,000 Nunavummiut.

Survivors, families and community members listened as the Pope issued an apology, asking for “forgiveness for the evil perpetrated by not just a few Catholics in these schools who contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation and enfranchisement.”

“I think that was the most important thing, the forgiveness,” Quassa said.

“He taught us how to forgive and it gave us peace.”

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing Inuit, issued a statement Monday mourning the death of the Pope, saying he “left a lasting legacy for Inuit.”

The organization pointed to Francis’s formal apology in Vatican City in March 2022 for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools, and his subsequent visit to Iqaluit as significant gestures of reconciliation.

“We will remember him as the Pope who listened and asked our forgiveness,” the statement said, mentioning Francis’s support for returning culturally significant items held by the Vatican to Indigenous communities.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he was elected pope in 2013. He chose his papal name to honour Saint Francis of Assisi.

Francis was the first Latin American pontiff and only the second pope to visit Canada. Earlier, Pope John Paul II visited Canada in 1984 and again in 1987.

Francis had suffered from a number of health issues in recent years, including a lung infection earlier this year.

Despite his condition, he appeared in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, giving people in the crowd that gathered the impression he was recovering, Reuters reported.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced his death at 7:35 a.m. Monday on Vatican TV, according to Reuters.