Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Pope Francis‘s upcoming visit to Canada’s Arctic territory of Nunavut draws attention to a focal point for global climate change, with sea ice disappearing fast and permafrost thawing. Francis, who arrives in the capital Iqaluit of predominantly Indigenous Nunavut on Friday, is in Canada to apologize in person for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in abuses that residential schools inflicted on Indigenous children.
Before the liturgy, making the Sign of the Cross towards the four cardinal points — according to indigenous custom — the pope blessed a bowl of the lake’s water, which was brought up to a small wooden structure, shaped like a teepee, overlooking the lake. The pope, after spending a moment in prayer sitting at the water's edge in his wheelchair, later sprinkled the crowds with the blessed water.
