Ideally, the individual would have indigenous heritage, have a connection to the residential school system, and speak Italian. That left them with one name: Cristino Bouvette. The 36-year-old Roman Catholic priest from Calgary is Italian through his mother and Cree and Métis through his father. His kokum, or grandmother, was a survivor of the school. “I have both of these worlds that have come together,” Bouvet said in an interview while in Edmonton. “This new role is something that I think is uniquely suited to me. If God’s providence has made it possible for me to be a part of it in this way, it’s an honor to do so.” Bouvet was named national operational director for Pope Francis’ first visit to Canada. The theme of the trip is “Walking Together,” and from July 24 to 29, the Pope is scheduled to meet with indigenous groups and school survivors at stops in and around Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit. Buveta standing outside the Scared Heart Church in Edmonton. The church will be one of the sites Pope Francis will visit on his trip to Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press) The position requires Bouvette to work with local organizers and the Vatican’s liturgical office to ensure that any ceremonies performed during the visit reflect the land they live in and the Catholic Church. Bouvet was approached earlier this year when discussions about Pope Francis’ visit to Canada first began. “I immediately knew I didn’t want to do it,” he recalls. “It’s very overwhelming. I was sure it was going to be very complicated. I was just afraid of doing something wrong or getting it wrong.” Being an Indigenous priest comes with a level of pressure, he said. It’s a role he gladly accepts, but fills him with dread when he thinks about encouraging healing and reconciliation between his own people and the church that caused them pain. An estimated 150,000 indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools over a century, and the Roman Catholic Church ran about 60 percent of the schools. “When I feel like a lot of people are counting on me to say or do exactly the right thing at the right time — that’s the heaviest burden.” Thoughts of the kokum came to his mind, he said. When Amelia Mae Bouvette was seven years old, she was forced to leave her family on the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in east-central Alberta to attend Edmonton Residential School, which was run by the United Church. Despite this, she maintained a deep connection to her Christian faith. He was raised a member of the United Church and family members were ordained ministers. Decades later, when it came time for Cristino Bouvette to tell his grandmother that he had decided to become a priest, she told him that she had met good nuns and priests in her life and hoped he would be one of them. She died in 2019, a month before her 100th birthday. When Bouvet thinks about what his kokum would say about his role in the Pope’s visit to Canada, no words come to mind. “I can see the look on her face and feel her hand on mine,” he said. “It would be a refuge for me to know that no matter what happened and no matter what I did or how I did it, it would support me. So that brings a lot of comfort.” The pope is expected to extend the apology for the church’s role in residential schools that he gave to indigenous delegates earlier this year at the Vatican. Bouvet was approached earlier this year when discussions about Pope Francis’ visit to Canada first began. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press) The past few months have been a whirlwind of meetings, Bouvet said. He has contacted indigenous representatives from each region the pontiff is to visit to hear what they hope to see from the program. Officials from the Vatican have also walked the planned sites. “It’s just surreal to be able, in Italian, to explain to some monsignors what the smudge is or why the four-way prayer matters,” he said. “All these things come together in one.” Details of what the ceremonies will look like have not been revealed, but Bouvet said it was important to develop a program that Pope Francis could participate in meaningfully while honoring indigenous traditions and customs. “I hope that people who are looking for something from this get what they need, and that if there are people who didn’t think they needed it or didn’t actively want it, it at least doesn’t cause them any disruption or any harm.”
