When Pope Francis came to Canada last year to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in residential schools, it cost the government $55.9 million, according to documents obtained by The Canadian Press.
Indigenous Services Canada paid the lion’s share, at about $30 million, for travel and local programs. Crown-Indigenous Relations paid $5 million, mostly to broadcast the visit and for translation. The RCMP paid more than $18 million for security.
Agencies paid various other sums, including covering costs for government officials to attend events on the Pope’s tour and for communications. The Canadian Press obtained the documents under a freedom-of-information request and published information from them on March 23.
Pope Francis made visits to Alberta, Quebec, and Nunavut while in Canada in July last year.
The cost of papal visits to various places in the world has often been discussed.
In 2018, a two-day papal trip to Ireland cost taxpayers about 18 million euros (more than CAD$26 million at the current exchange rate), Irish publication The Journal
reported at the time.
The Church was set to pay a hefty sum as well, with total costs estimated at more than 30 million euros, the Irish Times
reported leading up to the visit. State visits generally come with big price tags. The 2011 visits of then-U.S. President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth to Ireland around the same time cost a combined 36 million euros, the Irish Times said.
Ahead of a papal visit to the United States in 2015, Reuters
reported on the dismal state of the U.S. Catholic Church’s finances as it coped with the loss of millions of members and continued to pay sexual abuse settlements.
In 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI visited the UK for four days, the cost to taxpayers was some 12 million pounds (CAD$20 million at the current exchange rate), according to a Guardian
report from the time. The Church paid for all events strictly related to the faith, such as the beatification of a cardinal.
