Grand Council member Andrew Denny of Eskasoni, left, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet said the event was an example of friendship across cultures. (CBC) Canada's highest-ranking Catholic is in Cape Breton to help the Mi'kmaq people celebrate the 400th anniversary of their conversion to Catholicism.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet has travelled to tiny Chapel Island on the southwest corner of the Bras d'Or Lakes, the site of Mi'kmaq gatherings since long before Europeans set foot in North America.

As the recently appointed head of the Congregation for Bishops, Ouellet is part of Pope Benedict's powerful inner circle. He has been sent by the Vatican as a special papal envoy to help celebrate revered leader Chief Membertou's baptism in 1610 and his people's conversion to Catholicism.

Ouellet said he's honoured to help the Mi'kmaq celebrate.

"I think it is a moment also of friendship and reconciliation between the First Nations and the Canadian population," he said.

Grand Council member Andrew Denny of Eskasoni said Catholics around the world can learn from the Mi'kmaq's long tradition of accommodation.

"We're only showing the world that, as human beings coming together, it doesn't matter what colour or race you are," Denny said. "You can all get along and move forward."

Since 1742, Mi'kmaq people have been meeting at the St. Anne Mission every summer in what is believed to be the longest running annual assembly in North America. They come to share their culture, renew family ties and celebrate their faith.

Ouellet was to meet with the Mi'kmaq Grand Council on Saturday and lead about 4,000 people in mass on Sunday.