Canada Church Burning Raising Concerns (Worthy News In-Depth)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International. Correspondent Worthy News
TROIS-RIVIÉRES, CANADA (Worthy News) – A historic Catholic Church in the Canadian city of Trois-Rivières in Quebec province has been destroyed in a fire amid ongoing attacks against churches across Canada, local authorities confirmed Friday.
The destruction of the Notre Dame des Sept Allégresses Church came after some 112 Canadian churches were vandalized or burned since 2021, according to investigators.
Details about the cause of the latest fire were still emerging Friday, but no injuries were reported. The wind and the structure’s age, dating from 1913-1914, reportedly accelerated the spread of the flames.
Within minutes, the fire turned into a full-blown blaze, witnesses said.
Neighboring businesses reportedly helped evacuate 11 Franciscans who lived next to the Church. The Red Cross attended to the Franciscans after the evacuation.
Officials said the local government’s health and social services center behind the church was also briefly evacuated.
Additionally, activities were halted for about 200 students on a sports field of a nearby private secondary school, but authorities emailed parents to say that “everyone was safe.”
DIFFERENT WIND
“Luckily for us, the wind wasn’t blowing in our direction, which helped avoid the spread of the fire to our grounds,” explained witness Dany Dallaire to local media.
Yet Worthy News learned that it was a setback for entrepreneur Georges Mouradian, who planned to turn the church into a 40-unit apartment complex.
Construction was reportedly scheduled to begin in spring 2025, with the first tenants moving in a year later, in 2026.
Observers did not rule out arson. Canadian churches have been attacked since the discovery of more than 1,100 unmarked graves at the sites of three former residential schools run by the Catholic Church church in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Saskatchewan that Indigenous children were forced to attend.
The nation also saw a series of attacks on statues of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, and other historical figures.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, himself a Catholic, has said in controversial remarks he “understands” the anger people feel toward the federal government and the Catholic Church.
“It is unacceptable and wrong that acts of vandalism and arson are being seen across the country, including against Catholic churches,” Trudeau told reporters.
UNDERSTANDING ANGER
However, “I understand the anger that’s out there against the federal government, against institutions like the Catholic Church. It is real, and it’s fully understandable, given the shameful history, that we are all becoming more and more aware of and engaging ourselves to do better as Canadians,” Trudeau added in comments monitored by Worthy News.
Yet prominent critics say that while they condemn Catholic abuse of children, the prime minister defended those attacking churches by expressing “understanding.”
“Several Catholic churches, a number of Anglican parishes, and Evangelical churches serving African and Vietnamese immigrant communities have been targeted,” noted Brian Lilley, a political columnist with the Toronto Sun newspaper.
“If there were attacks like this taking place at Mosques or other places of worship, then we know that Trudeau would have tweeted right away, issued statements, and rightly denounced the attacks as hate crimes,” he wrote.
“Instead, even when asked, Trudeau can’t use that phrase, and his condemnations come with what amounts to a “yeah, but” at the end of it,” the columnist stressed.
He and others appear concerned that Canada becomes an epicenter of attacks against churches, much like Egypt or Nigeria.