Pope has fun, security frets, as pontiff takes wheelchair detour

Pope Francis waves at local residence outside the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples during his visit to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada July 25, 2022. REUTERS/Todd Korol

EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - Pope Francis had some fun on Monday and made Canadian security sweat when he asked a Vatican aide to push his wheelchair close to people waiting outside a church instead of going to his car as planned.

Francis had just finished a visit to the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, which followed a trip to Maskwacis, where he issued a historic apology for Catholicism's role in the country's notorious residential school system.