Carney travelling to Rome with Liberal MPs for Pope's inaugural mass

Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to depart Canada Friday night for his first official trip to the Vatican where he will attend the inaugural mass for Pope Leo XIV on Sunday.

Carney is a devout Catholic but was unable to attend Pope Francis's funeral on April 26 because it fell two days before the federal election.

The inaugural mass, which serves as the swearing-in of sorts for a new pope, is drawing many international leaders and Carney is expected to have bilateral meetings with several of them during the trip.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) confirmed members of Parliament from the Liberal caucus, who are practising Catholics or who represent large Catholic constituencies, will be travelling with the prime minister.

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, French Prime Minister François Bayrou and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are among those who have confirmed they're attending. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also hoping to attend.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak and Métis National Council President Victoria Pruden are travelling with the Canadian delegation.

Pruden is calling on the Vatican's Anima Mundi Museum to return Métis cultural artifacts in its collection.

"We are asking the Vatican to work with Métis knowledge-keepers, historians and experts to identify which items in their collection belong to our people and to return them," Pruden said in a media statement.

"These artifacts were taken during eras of profound injustice. Their return is an essential step in advancing reconciliation and repairing the deep harms caused by colonial policies, including the role the Church played in the residential school system."

Indigenous leaders previously called upon Pope Francis to return the artifacts. In 2023 he promised to do so but it has not yet happened.

Leo, still new to the role, has not yet said whether he will honour that pledge.

In an address to diplomats posted at the Vatican Friday morning, Leo reaffirmed the Church's efforts to "reach out to and embrace all individuals and all peoples on the Earth" through peace, justice and truth.

"I believe that religions and interreligious dialogue can make a fundamental contribution to fostering a climate of peace. This naturally requires full respect for religious freedom in every country, since religious experience is an essential dimension of the human person," he said.

"Without it, it is difficult, if not impossible, to bring about the purification of the heart necessary for building peaceful relationships."

With files from the CBC's Olivia Stefanovich, The Canadian Press's Alessia Passafiume and The Associated Press