Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

The president of the Métis National Council says she feels Pope Francis has committed to a journey of justice after a meeting with the head of the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican.

“He repeated 'truth, justice and healing' and I take that as a personal commitment," said Cassidy Caron outside St. Peter's Square on Monday morning. 

Caron said the Pope did not provide an apology for the church's role in residential schools. But, she added, they have always requested it take place on Canadian soil.

Métis and Inuit delegates are set to speak with Pope Francis at the Vatican in two separate meetings today.

The Métis delegates will have a one-hour meeting with the Pope first and the Inuit encounter will follow.

Métis National Council President Cassidy Caron has said she hopes it is an opportunity to share stories from residential school survivors.

Caron adds she also hopes to talk about how Métis people are revitalizing their culture and how the church can support those efforts.

An air of anticipation filled Indigenous delegates as their long flight from Montreal landed in Rome early Sunday morning ahead of planned meetings with Pope Francis.

"We are here because of our family, our family that has been uprooted, displaced and also relocated," said Chief Gerald Antoine, the Assembly of First Nations delegation lead. 

Métis leaders and residential school survivors say a trip to the Vatican to meet the Pope is as complicated as the history between their communities and the Roman Catholic Church itself. 

"We’ve always had faith," Angelina Crerar, 85, said in Edmonton in December. 

"We’ve never ever given up and we never ever will."

The residential school survivor became emotional explaining how her faith continues to give her strength. It also pushed her to join the Indigenous group heading to the Vatican.