An Indigenous singer who performed for Pope Francis during his residential schools apology in Iqaluit in 2022, is looking back fondly on the experience.

Pope Francis passed away yesterday at the age of 88.

Deantha Edmunds, an Inuk soprano who grew up in the Catholic faith, says it was an “honour” to perform at what she terms a “historic event.”

Edmunds says she was especially honoured to sing in Inuktitut for the Inuit residential school survivors.

She remembers locking eyes with Pope Francis as she was singing. She says she could feel him acknowledging her and that he was “truly listening” in that moment.