The temptation was great to write about attacks on churches when they first began. Out of what seemed like prudence at the time, I held off, a decision I now regret.
It might surprise you to be reminded that the recent spate of violence against Canadian churches is already more than a month old. It was in May that St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, a heritage church on the Kamloops Indian Reserve, was defaced with graffiti a few days after the Kamloops band announced the discovery of the remains of 215 children who were students at Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The vandalism on the church was met with public silence.
Within days another church was vandalized, this time in Prince Rupert.
More silence.
Over the next few days, and then weeks, individuals left their mark with graffiti and vandalism on church after church, including St. Augustine’s in Vancouver.
Still no one spoke out. And then on June 21 someone torched two B.C churches on First Nations land.
Some media quoted First Nations members decrying the loss of their churches, although as often the message was watered down by leaders who sympathized with the sentiments, if not the actions, of the persons responsible.
By this time, many Catholics were asking themselves what was going on. Surely if an attack of this nature, let alone a succession, had been made against any other faith, institution, or organization, there would have been a scramble to get to the head of the line denouncing the attacks as racism, hatred, and intolerance.
Yet on June 25, with churches in ashes across the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau found time to announce he had asked the Pope to come to Canada to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role running residential schools for indigenous children. Nothing about arson and churches.
Over the next several days, more houses of worship went up in flames across the country. The media reported the news as though church burnings were as routine as protest marches.
On June 29 something changed. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney became the first political leader in Canada to condemn the church burnings. “Recent arson attacks on Churches, including one in Alberta at Gleichen, are criminal acts designed to destroy spiritual sites that are important to many indigenous people. Reconciliation is essential. Targeting particular faith communities with violence is never acceptable.”
His timing was impeccable. The next day, historic St. Jean Baptiste Church in Morinville, Alta., went up in flames.
Within hours Kenney was on the scene of the devastation. Amid the ashes and rubble, he condemned as “unacceptable” the burning of the church and the rash of arsons across the province. He announced an increase in funding for the province’s security infrastructure program to “to help protect churches and other targets of hateful vandalism and violence.” He instructed his justice minister to work with police “to step up monitoring and protection of potential target sites.”
Two days later, at a press conference to discuss Canada’s record high temperatures, a reporter asked Prime Minister Trudeau to say something about the church burnings.
Trudeau responded by observing there is a rise in vandalism, hatred, and intolerance in Canada. He said he understands the anger many Canadians feel about the discovery of unmarked graves. Then he added that arson is “unacceptable and wrong,” including against Catholic churches.
He noted burning down churches is “depriving people who are in need of grieving and healing and mourning places where they can actually grieve and reflect and look for support,” Trudeau said.
Then he turned to the need to “rebuild a path forward that reflects the terrible intergenerational trauma and present-day realities of suffering that we are all collectively responsible for.”
So, apart from Kenney, there continues to be silence as yet more churches are reduced to ashes. A few days ago churches in Calgary and Prince George were hit. The latest was today in Saskatoon. The burnings barely rate news coverage anymore.
B.C. Premier John Horgan still hasn’t uttered a word, even after the head of the BC Civil Liberties Association tweeted “burn it all down” in reference to church burnings. It was left to Solicitor General and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth to condemn the remarks, and condemn them he did.
Meanwhile Trudeau and Horgan penned a July 2 op-ed in The Vancouver Sun with a First Nations leader and residential school survivor reminding Canadians of the need to “acknowledge that what happened at the former Lower Post residential school was not exceptional, or accidental.”
As Canadians come to terms with the grim history of the residential school system, it’s ironic that so few leaders are willing to address the present-day violence that is not only destroying historic churches, but feeding anti-religious sentiment and continuing the persecution of First Nations people who are already struggling with the legacy of persecution they’ve inherited.