Manitoba Métis leader to ask Pope Francis to bless Louis Riel's grave
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details
The president of the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) will ask Pope Francis to bless the grave of Louis Riel during a papal visit to Canada expected in late July.
David Chartrand said he will make the request during a private meeting between the Pope and 55 Manitoba Métis delegates on Thursday at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.
"I hope that I can convince the Pope to come to Canada, come and bless a man and his grave who gave everything, not only for the Métis people, but for the church," Chartrand said.
Louis Riel was a Métis leader who was instrumental in the creation of Manitoba and in the 1800s led the Red River and North-West resistance movements against Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's government.
Instead of carrying a gun, Chartrand said, Riel carried a cross and was a devout Catholic.
Riel was executed for treason on Nov. 16, 1885 at the North-West Mounted Police barracks in Regina. He's buried at Saint-Boniface Cathedral cemetery in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg is not one of the three Canadian cities that, according to sources involved in planning the trip, are being strongly considered for the Pope's visit. Chartrand said he hopes to change that.
"I will do my best to try to convince the Pope that Manitoba is where he is to go," Chartrand said.
CBC News is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Pope Francis is meeting with the MMF delegation nearly three weeks after issuing an initial apology for the conduct of some church members at residential schools. He made that apology to First Nations, Métis and Inuit delegations following private meetings at the Vatican.
"I accept the apology on behalf of my people," Chartrand said.
MMF requested a separate papal audience after it withdrew from the Métis National Council (MNC) last fall in response to membership issues involving the Métis Nation Ontario.
In January, MNC filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court against Chartrand and dozens of other individuals and consultants, including MNC president Clément Chartier.
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