Pope Francis plans to apologize to Indigenous groups on Canadian soil for harms inflicted at church-run residential schools.

Pope Francis on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 named Cruz, who helped uncover a clerical sex abuse scandal, to a Vatican commission which advises the pontiff on how to protect children from pedophile clergy. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Wednesday named a Chilean survivor of clerical sex abuse to serve on a Vatican commission that advises the pontiff on how to protect children from pedophile priests. Cruz was the main whistleblower on clerical abuse and coverup in his homeland, one of the more high-profile sex abuse scandals. Cruz helped spearhead the quest for justice for those who suffered abuse and for an overhaul of the Chilean church hierarchy. But Francis ultimately ordered a Vatican investigation that uncovered decades of abuse and cover-ups by the Chilean church leadership.

Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary Francesco, which premiered Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival. However, he had never come out publicly in favor of civil unions as pope, and no pontiff before him had, either. “The pope’s statement clearly contradicts what has been the long-standing teaching of the church about same-sex unions," he said in a statement. Wim Wenders did that in the 2018 film “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word.”“Francesco,” is more a visual survey of the world’s crises and tragedies, with audio from the pope providing possible solutions. Instead, Rubin said, Bergoglio urged his fellow bishops to lobby for gay civil unions.