Pope Francis was greeted with a "Rescind the Doctrine" protest during his visit to Canada to apologize for the historical abuse of Indigenous residents as Quebec slowly moves away from Catholicism.

The religious figurehead celebrated Mass on Thursday at Canada's national shrine and met face-to-face with a long-standing demand from Indigenous peoples. The latter has called to rescind the papal decrees underpinning the so-called "Doctrine of Discovery" and repudiate the theories that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands.

Pope Francis' Canada Trip

Shortly before the beginning of the Mass, two Indigenous women unfurled a banner at the altar of the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre that read: "Rescind the Doctrine" in bright red and black letters.

The protesters in the area were later escorted away and the Mass proceeded without any incidents. However, the women who held the banner later marched it out of the basilica and draped it on the railing.

The short demonstration underscored one of the issues that the Holy See is facing following Pope Francis' historic apology for the Catholic Church's involvement in Canada's residential school abuses. It was where generations of Indigenous peoples were forcibly removed from their families and cultures to assimilate them into Christian, Canadian society, as per the Associated Press.

The pope spent the week in Canada seeking to atone for the legacy and added in another request on Thursday for forgiveness from victims for the "evil" of clergy sexual abuse. However, Indigenous people have called on the religious leader to formally rescind the 15th-century papal bulls or decrees.

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These provided the Portuguese and Spanish kingdoms the religious backing to expand their territories in Africa and the Americas for the sake of spreading Christianity. The decrees underpin the Doctrine of Discovery. It was cited as recently as a 2005 Supreme Court decision involving the Oneida Indian Nation.

According to the Washington Post, the situation comes as, for more than 140 years, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church has been an imposing presence in the provincial capital. It was a rallying point for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society, an organization devoted to protecting the interests of Quebec's French-speaking population.

The Catholic Church's Waning Influence

But amid growing secularization, poor Mass attendance, declining revenue, and the climbing costs of maintaining centuries-old places of worship, its doors are closed. The future of the church is uncertain as officials are considering how the building might be repurposed.

The plight of Saint-Jean-Baptiste parallels the declining influence of the church in Canada's most Catholic province. It is where for centuries, it dominated public and private life and where steeples and spires still tower over small villages and urban centers.

Pope Francis' apologies aim to remedy that issue, but may not really be enough to also absolve the church of the controversies surrounding historical abuse. It was where 60% of boarding schools where Indigenous children were brought were run by the Catholic Church.

The kids were prevented from speaking their native languages and compelled to embrace Christianity and a strict educational and work program intended to "civilize" them. The children suffered sexual and physical abuse and initial analysis estimated more than 3,200 died at the schools with another 1,000 dying after they were sent home grievously ill, Democracy Now reported.

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