Since the Israel-Hamas war, tensions worldwide have been high and there have been many regrettable incidents of damage and despoilment of both synagogues and mosques, both here in Canada and elsewhere. But what seems to have been largely overlooked - at least, it has escaped MY notice - is the number of Catholic churches that have been burned down in recent years in Canada.
CBC reports that 33 Canadian churches have been burned down since May 2021. Just two of these were ruled accidental, and at least 24 were definitely arson, with more still under investigation. Other estimates put the number as high as 47, with a further 53 being vandalized.
Clearly, this is nothing to do with the Israeli war. Most of the burnings have occurred in rural northern and Prairie communities, many of them on Indigenous reservations, and this is all about the revelations of the recent discoveries of potential burial sites and unmarked graves at former church-run residential schools.
Has this phenomenon been deliberately under-reported out of respect for an Indigenous community that is going through a hard time? If so, I'm not sure how I feel about it. There has been more than one incident where motions to condemn the acts have been blocked from discussion on Parliament or in standing committees, which is strange, to the say the least. Certainly, if this many synagogues and mosques were being torched, there would be a major national inquiry by now.
Unmarked graves at residential school sites is an important news story and a hard issue to deal with for many Indigenous communities. But wholesale arson is still not an appropriate or acceptable response. I'm the last person to defend organized religion, but I do believe that today's churches are not the churches of yore, and that most of them are doing what they can to make reparations and to promote healing.
Burning them down may be a gut reaction for some, but it's still a criminal act. And two wrongs do not make a right.
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