Manitoba Metis Federation president attending funeral of Pope Francis Saturday

David Chartrand, Manitoba Métis Federation president, weighs in on the Pope’s visit and what it meant for Métis communities.

The president of the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) is heading to Italy to attend the funeral of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88. He will be lying in state for three days starting Wednesday, in St. Peter’s Basilica, before being laid to rest on Saturday.

The MMF confirmed Wednesday that David Chartrand is flying to Rome to attend his funeral.

Chartrand, who is Catholic, met Pope Francis in 2022, when the Pope made his historic apology to survivors of Canada’s residential school program.

“He sat there and listened to all of our elders speak,” Chartrand recalled in an interview with CTV Morning Live Winnipeg. “We spoke on our belief in the Catholic Church, but also some of the challenges we faced.”

Chartrand recalled the Pope shook hands with everyone present despite the meeting taking place during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For him to do that was touching, and a lot of people shed tears,” he said. “A lot of them actually felt their teardrops were falling on his hands because they couldn’t believe that he would shake their hands during COVID.”

He added the apology that summer was significant, as it was done on Canadian soil.

“He’s the Pope that really set the pathway for the future for the Vatican,” Chartrand said.

Locally, a memorial hosted by the Archdiocese of Winnipeg will be held at St. Mary’s Cathedral at 353 St. Mary Ave. on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.

-With files from CTV’s Ainsley McPhail, Associated Press and Danton Unger.