Pope Francis begins six-day trip to Canada

Head of the Catholic Church uses a wheelchair and lift when boarding his flight

Pope Francis arrives at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International airport on Sunday before his flight to Canada. AP

Pope Francis headed to Canada on Sunday for what he described as a “penitential pilgrimage”.

The pontiff, 85, undertook a 10-hour flight to the Great White North, the longest journey he has taken since 2019, kick-starting a six-day trip.

The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics has been suffering from knee pain that has forced him to use a cane or a wheelchair during outings.

The pope was seen in a wheelchair as he prepared to board his plane and a lifting platform was used to take him on to the aircraft, a journalist on the flight said.

The pope was due to be greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon arrival at Edmonton International Airport on Sunday morning.

Before he left Rome, the pope said on Twitter he was making a "penitential pilgrimage" that "might contribute to the journey of reconciliation already undertaken".

"Dear brothers and sisters of Canada, I come among you to meet the indigenous peoples," the pope tweeted.

"I hope, with God's grace, that my penitential pilgrimage might contribute to the journey of reconciliation already undertaken. Please accompany me with prayer."

He will be joined on the visit by his diplomacy chief, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's second most senior official.

His trip will see him personally apologise to Indigenous survivors of abuse committed over a span of decades at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

The church played a large role in what the national truth and reconciliation commission has called "cultural genocide".

From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada's government sent about 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children into 139 residential schools run by the Church, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture.

Many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers.

Thousands of children are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.

Since May 2021, more than 1,300 unmarked graves have been discovered at the sites of former schools.

A delegation of Indigenous peoples travelled to the Vatican in April and met the pope, after which he formally apologised.

But doing so again on Canadian soil will be of huge significance for survivors and their families, for whom the land of their ancestors is of particular importance.

After resting on Sunday, the pope will travel Monday to the community of Maskwacis, some 100 kilometres south of Edmonton, and address an estimated crowd of 15,000 at a mass.

The crowds are expected to include former students from across the country.

After the ceremony, Francis will head north west to an important pilgrimage site, the Lac Sainte Anne (St Anne Lake).

Following a July 27-29 visit to Quebec City, he will end his trip in Iqaluit, capital of the northern territory of Nunavut and home to the largest Inuit population in Canada.

There he will meet former residential school students, before returning to Italy.

In total, Francis is expected to deliver four speeches and four homilies, all in Spanish.

Francis is the second pope to visit Canada, after John Paul II, who visited three times (1984, 1987 and 2002).