By Salt + Light Media communications office
Walking Together: Into One Beat is a new documentary on Pope Francis’ historic penitential pilgrimage of healing and reconciliation to Canada that will premiere on Salt + Light TV on Thursday, July 27, 2023.
View the trailer at: slmedia.org/into-one-beat
The documentary will be available to view at: slmedia.org/slplus
Salt + Light Media has produced a new documentary – Walking Together: Into One Beat – to commemorate the historic July 2022 visit of Pope Francis to Canada, as part of the Catholic Church’s efforts toward truth and reconciliation.
“Reconciliation calls out to us, to our hearts and minds — our souls,” says Fr. Alan Fogarty, SJ, Executive Producer of the film and CEO of Salt + Light Media.
“We must actively invite the Holy Spirit to grace us with healing and instill in us the abundant love that makes real a right relationship for all. As a Catholic media organization committed to truth, education, and unity, we’ve made a commitment to producing documentaries on the painful realities of residential schools, but also to finding stories that showcase forgiveness, courage and friendship that give us hope and model for us what the future can look like,” says Fogarty.
In July 2022, Pope Francis visited Indigenous communities, celebrated Mass in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, and at the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, and, most importantly, apologized for the Church’s role in the country’s residential school system.
Walking Together: Into One Beat features interviews with members of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut, who shared their heartfelt stories as they prepared for the Holy Father’s arrival. After the visit, they offered their reactions, impressions, and hopes for this country of many nations moving forward, as one, on the journey of reconciliation.

Pope Francis prays silently at the water’s edge at Lac Ste. Anne, during the papal visit to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. (File photo by Michael Swan, The Catholic Register – CCN)
Led by Deacon Pedro Guevara-Mann, one of Salt + Light Media’s most experienced producers, and a team that included Jen Copestake, Salt + Light’s former Vatican Bureau Chief, the new film features never-before-seen-footage and interviews.
Walking Together: Into One Beat includes interviews with Chief Tony Alexis, Chief of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, Deborah Lloyd, an elder of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation and coordinator of the Lac Ste. Anne stop in the papal visit; Fernie Marty, elder from Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton; Fr. Cristino Bouvette, Senior Lead for Liturgies for the papal visit and Bernadette Tutanuak, Monica Ugjuk and Cathy Towtongie from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. It also includes commentary from bishops from Canadian Catholic dioceses and extensive footage of the papal visit, including the pope’s apology at Maskwacis.
“Our journey toward truth and reconciliation requires moments of encounter like the ones we see in the film,” says Guevara-Mann.
“It has been a real privilege for me to be a part of this project. I believe this film will contribute to this process of reconciliation by offering viewers new opportunities for dialogue, education and greater faith and hope in the future of our country,” he added
The film is the second in a series of three documentaries Salt + Light Media has committed to producing on residential schools, Indigenous Peoples and faith, and the truth and reconciliation process.
The first documentary, Walking Together, available on Salt + Light Plus, captures the historic meetings that took place at the Vatican in March and April 2022 between Pope Francis and delegations of Indigenous Peoples from Canada.
That first 59-minute documentary offers behind-the-scenes access to the experiences of representatives of the Assembly of First Nations, Métis National Council and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, as they joined their communities and all Indigenous Peoples in receiving Pope Francis’ apology in Rome for the role Catholic leaders and representatives played in the abuses committed within Canada’s residential school system.
Fundraising has now started to produce a third documentary that will highlight and measure over the next few years the impact of Pope Francis’ visit to Canada on healing, and reconciliation between the Church and Indigenous peoples in Canada, to create greater awareness of the work that is required to bring true healing to Canada and all its peoples.
The new 58-minute documentary film Walking Together: Into One Beat will premiere on Salt + Light TV on Thursday, July 27 at 6 p.m. (Saskatchewan time), and a subtitled French version, Marcher Ensemble: Autour du tambour, will air on Saturday, July 29 at 6 p.m. (Saskatchewan time).
Repeat broadcasts on Salt + Light TV are also scheduled (all times are CST for Saskatchewan):
- In English on Thursday, July 27 at 10:30 p.m.
- In English on Sunday, July 30 at 12:00 p.m.
- In French on Saturday, July 29 at 10:30 p.m.
- In French on Monday, July 31 at 5 p.m.
- In French on Monday, July 31 at 10 p.m.
The documentary will also be available to all viewers on Salt + Light Plus in English, French and Chinese. Salt + Light Plus is an online streaming service and can be accessed at slmedia.org/slplus as well as on Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices by downloading the Salt + Light Plus app.
About Salt + Light Media
Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation is a Canadian registered charity devoted to spreading the Light of Christ to the world through television, social media, podcasts, print and other forms of digital communication in English, French, Cantonese and Mandarin.
Its specialty television network, Salt + Light TV, is carried across Canada on most major cable and satellite television carriers. Salt + Light Plus, its Internet streaming service, is available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices or by visiting slmedia.org.
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