The visit, announced two weeks after the discovery of unmarked children’s remains at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, has been planned for two years, according to the Canadian bishops’ conference. The meeting will take place before the end of the year and will “provide Pope Francis with a unique opportunity to hear directly from Indigenous Peoples, express his heartfelt closeness, address the impact of colonization and the implication of the Church in the residential schools, so as to respond to the suffering of Indigenous Peoples and the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma.”