Pope 'asked for our forgiveness,' Manitoba Métis Federation president says after Vatican meeting

Tears, smiles and a request for absolution marked a meeting between a Métis delegation and Pope Francis in Vatican City on Wednesday as the head of the Catholic Church offered more apologies for abuses suffered at Canada's residential schools.

"He actually asked for our forgiveness. He said how ashamed he was for this to happen to our people and he asked us to pray for him also," David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, told CBC's Heather Hiscox after the historic meeting.

As Andrew Carrier, "one of the victims of the predators of the church," spoke about sexual abuse at the schools, Francis watched attentively "and you could see the emotion in his face," Chartrand said.

"For him to say that we should pray for him, too, was I think to tell us that he, too, is human — that he, too, needs help."

The Pope's reaction was similar to that described by the Indigenous delegations who met with him nearly three weeks earlier but was no less powerful, Chartrand said.

And then Francis did something Chartrand said caught the archbishops off guard.

WATCH | Manitoba Métis Federation hopes Pope will visit Winnipeg:

"He shook every one of our delegation's hands and gave every one of them a gift. So everyone had a chance to speak privately for a few seconds each to the Pope. It was such a touching moment for everybody," he said.

"Many were just crying in tears as they got their gift and their handshake from the Pope. And he stayed with us and he signed our self-government agreement … that recognized the Métis as the self-government of the people of the Red River.

"So many things happened in that room. No doubt the interaction was magic."

Canada forced more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children to attend residential schools from the 1880s until 1996, a policy the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called "cultural genocide."

Francis told the Indigenous delegations on April 1 that he was sorry for what he called the "deplorable conduct" of some members of the Catholic Church and a "lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values."

Chartrand said his delegation had about 55 people, including representatives from Saskatchewan as well as elders and youth.

They presented Francis with a timeline of the Métis connection to the Catholic Church, dating back to 1817, as they asked him to include Winnipeg in a papal visit to Canada expected in late July.