B.C. First Nation seeks 'real action,' urges conditions for papal visit to Canada

The Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation says it would be ``deeply meaningful'' to welcome Pope Francis to Kamloops when the pontiff visits Canada on yet-to-be-determined dates.

The Vatican announced yesterday that the pope will willing to visit this country as part of the process of reconciliation with Indigenous people.

But Tk'emlups Chief Rosanne Casimir says in a statement issued this morning that if the only objective is reconciliation, and there's no concrete action associated with the visit, the visit will miss the ``hard truths'' First Nations are confronting as they recover from the genocidal legacy of residential schools.

The Tk'emlups statement says the pope must apologize for the Catholic church's role in abuses suffered by generations of residential school students and the church must release all requested residential school documents and fulfil promises to financially aid survivors and their families.