Response to church attacks ‘indicative of hatred, intolerance’ for religion: Catholic rights league

The executive director of the Catholic Civil Rights League is calling for stronger public, political and law-enforcement action to protect the faithful in response to an early-summer conflagration of anti-Catholic arson, vandalism, threats and hate speech.

The more than 20 arson and vandalism attacks on churches across the country have been widely viewed as a response to the recent identification of long-lost gravesites at abandoned Indian Residential Schools.

“To their credit, it has been the Indigenous leaders who have made the strongest statements against acts of violence,” Christian Elia said in an interview with The B.C. Catholic. “There has been far less from other civil leaders and even law enforcement, quite frankly.

“What’s alarming to the Catholic Civil Rights League is how this response is really indicative of hatred and intolerance for organized religion, specifically ours. I think that many Canadians, even though they would consider themselves very inclusive and very tolerant, conveniently make an exception when it comes to organized religion.”

Elia’s voice was one of several that were raised in alarm following the explosion of physical and verbal attacks on churches, including more than a dozen fires. Yet, by the end of the first week of July, few political leaders or law-enforcement authorities had condemned the attacks. 

One of the few was Alberta Premier Jason Kenney who on Twitter said the burning of the Morinville church “appears to be another violent hate crime targeting the Catholic community.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the burning of churches was “unacceptable” when asked about the attacks during a press conference about record high temperatures across the country.

A spokesperson for an organization that is often a target of hate crime said it is clear the attacks meet the criteria for hate crimes. Nicolas Slobinsky of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Pacific region said hateful, anti-Catholic attacks – whether verbal or physical – “should be investigated as hate crimes by law enforcement.”

Slobinsky said his community “shares the pain, anger, and frustration felt by many across Canada following the discovery of multiple unmarked graves at former residential school sites,” but that violence is not the appropriate response.

“We join the growing condemnation, by Indigenous leaders, elected officials and others, of the arson attacks,” he told The B.C. Catholic. “As a society, we have much work to do towards truth and reconciliation but targeting places of worship will not help us build a better future.”

Peter Noteboom, general secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, said in an interview that the apparent rise of hate crimes against Christian churches is of growing concern to his organization.

“I also know from conversation with some of my colleagues in other religious communities – the Jewish community, the Muslim community and so on – that they are eager to speak out and name it for what it is, a hate crime, and to speak about it together,” Noteboom said. “It’s a new conversation, though, so it’s happening carefully and slowly.”

Deacon Andrew Bennett, director of the Cardus Religious Freedom Institute, said while anger at the Church understandable in light of what happened at residential schools, “the violence is inexcusable. And if there’s one thing that history has taught us is that violence begets violence and the last thing we want to do is to create new victims.” See full interview with Father Deacon Bennett. 

But at least one B.C. community leader who might have been expected to join such a conversation and defend the rights of Canadian Catholics instead used news of church arsons to fan the flames of anti-Church hatred.

It happened on July 1 when, in response to a VICE News report that two more Catholic Churches had been “torched,” Harsha Walia, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association tweeted “Burn it all down.” She later maintained the comment was  metaphorical, a position ultimately supported by the association’s board. A handful of other commentators also voiced their support, including Gerald Butts, a former senior adviser of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who termed the Tweet “understandable.”

Nevertheless, the more common response to Walia’s statement was condemnation. “I thought it was just disgusting and reprehensible that somebody who heads up an organization like that would make such comments,” B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth told reporters. “It’s vile beyond belief, it does nothing to bring about reconciliation. All it does is create conflict and division.”

B.C. Liberal MLA Ellis Ross, a member of the Haisla First Nation who is seeking his party’s leadership, said Walia’s statement was “uncalled for.”

“It is a very reckless statement to make, condoning that type of violence, that type of behaviour,” Ross told The B.C. Catholic. “It’s not what we need right now.”

The Vancouver Police Department would not confirm that it was investigating the tweet as a hate crime. Spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin would only say by way of email  that, “We are aware of the tweet, and we are looking into it.”

Established in 1962, the BCCLA describes itself as “actively advancing human rights and civil liberties through litigation, law reform, community-based legal advocacy, and public engagement and education.” No one at the association responded to B.C. Catholic requests for an interview.

Derek Ross, executive director of the Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF), told The B.C. Catholic that no one should equivocate about the impact of church arsons. “Attacks on places of worship should be condemned in the strongest terms,” he said in an email interview.

“Burning a church isn’t just an act of arson, where damage is limited to bricks and mortar. It deprives a community of their spiritual home and their right to worship without fear, and spreads a harmful, public message that their very existence is unwelcome.”

He also noted that while attacks on churches must be condemned, “we must not allow these acts to divert from the important work that needs to be done in seeking justice, healing, and reconciliation” with First Nations.

The Archdiocese of Vancouver released a statement urging the faithful not to lose sight of the importance of advancing reconciliation, even as the Church is being attacked.

“It is deeply distressing to hear the recent news of the burning down and vandalism of some churches,” said the statement. “The right path forward is one of reconciliation, dialogue and atonement with Indigenous people and in following the way they would lead us in that process.” 

In a reference to verbal attacks on the church of the sort made by Walia, the archdiocese said, “It is painful to find people in positions of local authority urge mobs towards increasing hatred and violence. Churches are made up of people, any many of them here are made up of Indigenous people, refugees, and migrants – the very people we should all seek to protect rather than terrorize.”

While no churches have been torched in the Vancouver archdiocese, at least one – St. Jude’s in East Vancouver – was vandalized July 1 by two women who threw orange paint on exterior doors and walls. An email sent to the Georgia Straight publication from an anonymous account named “154yearsofcanadiangenocide” described the vandalism as “an autonomous action in solidarity with Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island.” (Turtle Island is a name some Indigenous people and their supporters use to describe North America.) The group also distributed photos and a video of the vandalism.

When asked about the St. Jude’s vandalism, Vancouver Police told The B.C Catholic, “that is an open and active investigation.”

Across town, the administration of the Musqueam First Nation in Vancouver retained a security firm on June 30 to protect its small church, St. Michael’s, from vandalism or worse. “We had been receiving anonymous tips in regard to arsonists in the area, and we wanted to mitigate risks,” Devin Sharma, the Musqueam’s chief administrative officer, told The B.C. Catholic.

Days later, Vancouver Police partnered with the Musqueam to install a multi-camera, high-tech security system that can alert police should any suspicious activity occur around the church. At least one other Metro Vancouver parish, which asked to remain unnamed, also requested police protection during the weekend following Canada Day after it received a disturbing letter.

Throughout Canada, more than a dozen churches had been destroyed or damaged by fire in recent weeks, and many more vandalized. Much of the destruction took place at churches that, ironically, served Indigenous people.  As the National Post reported July 7, it was often First Nations people themselves who were “left to pick up the pieces” after the embers cooled.

The observation was similar to that shared two days earlier by three aboriginal women, who held a press conference in Vancouver calling for an end to the burning of churches. “We do not spread hate, we love people, we do not destroy other people’s places of religion,” Jenn Allan-Riley told reporters. “We are asking for people, that are setting these fires, to stop now.”

She pointed out that the arson attacks hurt the very people the vandals claimed to be supporting by triggering traumatic feelings. “Burning down churches is not in solidarity with us Indigenous people.”