As many as 45 Catholic churches in Canada have been burned or vandalized in a wave of anti-Christian violence sparked by the discovery of unmarked graves near former schools for Indigenous children.
The True North Centre for Public Policy has published a map on its website tracking reported incidents of church burnings and acts of vandalism committed on Catholic church property in recent weeks. According to the group, at least 17 churches have been targeted by arsonists. Dozens more have been defaced with red paint or vandalized in other manners.
These anti-Christian attacks have followed the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves near residential schools where the Canadian government sent indigenous children as part of a forced assimilation program. Beginning in the late 19th century and lasting for 120 years, about 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend the schools, most of which were operated by the Catholic Church, where they were taught to reject their cultural heritage and assimilate into Canadian culture. Many of the schools were underfunded, did not provide adequate nourishment, health care, or clothing, and were overcrowded and susceptible to outbreaks of disease.
It is not clear if all of the discovered graves belong to children. According to the Cowessess First Nation, the area where graves were found in Saskatchewan was also used as a burial site by the rural municipality located there.
Two weeks ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the violence against churches, calling it “unacceptable and wrong.”