Alberta is seeing high demand for Pope Francis appearances in the Edmonton area starting in less than a week.
The pope is due to arrive in Edmonton on Sunday for a brief ceremony at the airport.
On Monday morning, he is scheduled to join survivors at the Ermineskin Indian Residential School in Maskwacis, Alta. The pope will also visit the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, a local church in downtown Edmonton, on July 25.
Read more: Edmonton indigenous church reopens for pope’s visit next week
On July 26, an outdoor mass is scheduled at Commonwealth Stadium at 10:15 a.m. Two blocks of free tickets have already been released for the table, which were snapped up very quickly. The final block of tickets for the event is scheduled to go online this Friday at 10:30am MT. The facility can accommodate around 65,000 people.
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From the Commonwealth, Francis will visit Lac Ste. Anna, where a great pilgrimage takes place every year.
Read more: Pope’s visit to Lac Ste. Anne, evoking complex emotions
Officials from the papal visit to Canada say they continue to prioritize local participation in all events during the papal visit. Event tickets are available to residential/day school survivors, elders, and knowledge keepers.
In a news release Monday morning, the Treaty 6 Confederation of First Nations said it has heard from many survivors who hope to attend the events in person. Officials said they were doing their best to respond to all requests they received about the pope’s visit.
“The uptake over the past few weeks has continued to increase. We have a lot of interest from people who want to attend the events that are being planned here around Edmonton,” Grand Chief George Arcand Jr. said Monday.
“This event is for the survivors, the people who went to boarding school.”
Unfortunately, the Confederation said the requests have overwhelmed the administration and with limited resources it has been a challenge to deliver information to those living outside Treaty 6 territory.
“Treaty 6 Confederacy is trying to house as many people from Treaty 6 that want to be accepted that have survived,” Arcand Jr. said.
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2:19 The Pope’s visit to Lac Ste. Anne, raising complex emotions The Pope’s visit to Lac Ste. Anne, evoking complex emotions
He said the confederation had to hire extra people to keep up with the calls and inquiries they were getting.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment, but we’ve been able to work with national organizations to try and set up websites and get in touch with people. And in fact Maskwacis created their own site so people can go on it and connect with someone… Lac Ste. Anne did the same,” he said.
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“While we’re working on the logistics and making sure people have access, obviously people who aren’t familiar with computers and all the technology are going to have some challenges.” But there will always be an opportunity, especially in Alberta, for people to call Treaty 6 Confederation.”
Read more: New sod, more bathrooms and police inspection, Lac Ste. Anne prepares for the Pope
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Laryssa Waler, spokeswoman for the Papal Visit team, said they are working with multiple agencies and organizations to help spread rickets among local participants in Maskwacis and Lac Ste. Ann.
“The Commonwealth Table is open to Indigenous participants and the general public, but we prioritize Indigenous participation,” Waller said.
“As the event in Maskwacis is a national event, we are also trying to ensure that survivors from all over the country can attend and we are coordinating this with many organizations to ensure that this happens.
“We are making every effort to accommodate survivors, elders, knowledge keepers, youth and leaders who wish to attend. We are also aware that there are capacity constraints at both Maskwacis and Lac Ste. Anne, and that it is difficult for many in the country to travel. For this reason, we are also investing in broadcast services so that events can be available for everyone to watch in multiple languages and dialects.”
1:44 Support available for residential school survivors traveling to papal visits Support available for residential school survivors traveling to papal visits
Arcand Jr. also wanted to clear up a few misconceptions about the Pope’s upcoming visit.
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“I think people assume they can just get in their vehicle and go to one of the events. All the events have been turned into something of a coordinated effort around parking, making sure the security issues are addressed.”
“The second, of course, is that we’ve always done this event for the survivors — Ermineskin, Commonwealth and Lac Ste. An event. So we really helped in working with the Ermineskin/Maskwacis people and working with Lac Ste. Ann people to ensure that survivors who want to attend can be a part of it.
Arcand Jr. said they don’t yet have numbers set on how many people will attend the events in Maskwacis and Lac Ste. Ann. He expects to have more details by the end of the week. At the end of the day, he said there are a number of people working very hard to ensure the success of the Pope’s visit to Alberta.
“We mess up, but it’s good. This is a good event. Obviously, the Pope visiting and coming here to talk to survivors is something we promote. We know that some people are not happy about the Pope’s visit, but we know that many people are. So we are working with all those people who still want to be part of the event.”
1:43 Security steps up in Edmonton ahead of Pope Francis visit Security steps up in Edmonton ahead of Pope Francis visit
The confederation said survivors who want to register for any of the events should contact their respective National Indigenous Organization (NIO), Catholic Diocese traveling with survivors or regional AFN representatives.
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If people are unsure who to contact at the above organizations, Indigenous people can register for the Maskwacis event by emailing maskwacis@papalvisit.ca. To register a large group, email groups@papalvisit.ca.
Indigenous people can register for Lac Ste. Anne pilgrimage by emailing LSA@papalvisit.ca, LSA@visitepapale.ca or visit lacsteannepilgrimage.ca. To register a large group, email groups@papalvisit.ca.
Indigenous people can register for Commonwealth Stadium by emailing commonwealth@papalvisit.ca. To register a large group, email commonwealthgroups@papalvisit.ca.
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