Catholic churches burning in western Canada

Started by Christina_S, June 30, 2021, 07:30:49 PM

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Christina_S

Today has been a rough day. The first news my husband told me this morning was that the church where we were married had been burned to the ground overnight. It was a beautiful old church, built by settlers who hoped to see it become the cathedral for the diocese of St. Albert (prior to its further division into smaller dioceses, namely St. Paul and Edmonton).

With all the chaos the media has whipped up about residential schools, half a dozen western Canadian churches have been set on fire, coated with red handprints, or otherwise damaged/destroyed.

I am both sad and furious: how many more churches will it take until bishops, priests, and the mainstream laity realize there's a war on the church?

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/catholic-church-north-of-edmonton-destroyed-in-fire-1.5491294?fbclid=IwAR3WP7843Eh-dJD9L3aSj2Dy3YO0KKo96yocGW47VMsYtiQS2XXb3q8gK6Q

"You cannot be a half-saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all." ~St. Therese of Lisieux

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Optatus

Quote from: Christina_S on June 30, 2021, 07:30:49 PM
Today has been a rough day. The first news my husband told me [...]

My sympathies, Christina.

I think it will get worse if the comments I'm reading online are any indication. There's a whole lot of people going out of their way to contextualise the burnings and few who are calling them out for what they are: terrorist acts. I am perhaps more than a little naive since, although I understood that there has always been a general distaste for the Church in English-speaking Canada, I never quite understood the depth and magnitude of the hatred.

I have seen it suggested online that 24/7 adoration might be a good solution to the problem since it will ensure someone is keeping a constant vigil against potential arsonists. Perhaps it is worth mentioning to your priest.

mikemac

Yeah the burning of St. Jean Baptiste Catholic Church in Morinville changes everything.  All the other churches that were burnt were on Indian reserves.  Not this one.  This makes things personal. 
Like John Vennari (RIP) said "Why not just do it?  What would it hurt?"
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queen.saints

I'm so sorry, Christina. What a great loss for you and your husband personally and for the Church. It must have been very hard news to hear.
I am sorry for the times I have publicly criticized others on this forum, especially traditional Catholic religious, and any other scandalous posts and pray that no one reads or believes these false and ignorant statements.

Jayne

I'm sorry you are going through this, Christina.  I appreciate you posting and giving a "human face" to what is happening.  As Mike said, this is personal.
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Melkor

Sympathies Christina. It's getting absolutely ridiculous here in Canada. I wonder when the mobs will start coming to hunt us.
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LuxVera

I'm not Canadian, but the fact that Catholic churches being targeted isn't labeled as "domestic terrorism." Some of the insane comments I've seen on social media with regards to these church arsons ranges from anything to "it's just a building, it can be rebuilt" to "my native buddies are ready to hunt down and kill white Catholics," to "this is justice for all the 30,000 [not sure where this number comes from, sounds fake though] indigenous killed by Catholics." I don't understand why Twitter allows members to threaten and even imply murder against a specific religious group-especially Catholicism-but posting how you disagree with sodomy gets you the boot.

How many Churches will burn before Canadian faithful get tired of it and act? The bishops have already sold their souls to politics and the devil, so all they will do is either "apologize" or continuing to throw their flocks under the bus. This just goes to show how evil mainstream/social media is and how any joe schmoe can be super easily manipulated into committing violent acts against others; and based completely on either entirely false or exaggerated claims reported in the media. I wonder how many of those Twitter users are Gen Zers or millennials that come from single family or abusive households?
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Jayne

Quote from: Melkor on July 01, 2021, 10:19:48 AM
Sympathies Christina. It's getting absolutely ridiculous here in Canada. I wonder when the mobs will start coming to hunt us.

Thinking of historical examples, targeting buildings often happens within ten years of targeting people.  On the current trajectory, it could be quite soon.
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Mono no aware

Quote from: Jayne on July 01, 2021, 11:41:30 AMThinking of historical examples, targeting buildings often happens within ten years of targeting people.  On the current trajectory, it could be quite soon.

Other times, though, these things come to naught.  There was a series of church burnings in Norway in the early 1990s, but in the end it turned out it was a faddish practice of Satanists on the black metal scene.

james03

QuoteI don't understand why Twitter allows members to threaten and even imply murder against a specific religious group-especially Catholicism-but posting how you disagree with sodomy gets you the boot.
Simple really.  They are Christ haters.  They hate Christ and they hate you.  This is why the Left always ends up slaughtering millions.

Christians can't conceive of that level of hatred, so we get caught off guard.  I woke up after the "bike lock professor" attack in California, when a loser with nothing going on slammed a peace protestor, who was kneeling and saying a prayer for peace, in the head with a bike lock.  I came to the conclusion that down deep it is a hatred directed towards God.
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Christina_S

Thank you for your prayers. I briefly glimpsed the thread on Reddit talking about it and it's horrifying. I saw a Facebook comment from a fellow who claims to be Catholic, saying "Oh please. It's just brick and mortar." I went into an absolute rage and told him if that's how he wants to treat the good, true, and beautiful things that God has given us through His Church, he can leave. Get out.

We have enough wolves in the sheepfold as it is.

I also learned that a friend was supposed to be married at St. Jean Baptiste in just over two weeks. It was her childhood parish and she dreamed of bringing her children up in the faith there. Please keep S. and A. in your prayers as well.
"You cannot be a half-saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all." ~St. Therese of Lisieux

Check out the blog that I run with my husband! https://theromanticcatholic.wordpress.com/
Latest posts: Why "Be Yourself" is Bad Advice
Fascination with Novelty
The Wedding Garment of Faith

Santantonio

This is the power of FAKE NEWS. FAKE NEWS was believed by the Indians.

Indians who thought - and think - that Catholics committed genocide against them burned that church down.

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/alberta-grand-chief-pleads-with-his-people-to-leave-churches-alone-1.5492972


Angela

I'm sorry, Christina, for your personal loss to this church.

This whole Residential School business is just social engineering directed at us Catholics; much like the BLM movement in the States is directed to the ' White Christian Male', this is more insidious, as it is a direct attack (literally) against our churches. That the government and RCMP are only treating these church burnings as 'suspicious' is, to me, a sign of something more brewing underneath. Would a mosque-burning be so lightly dealt with??

These poor Indigenous pawns. They are unaware of how they are being used. But, nevertheless, our Canada Day is canceled; we have to sit at home and mourn over the "unmarked graves" (!!) at the cemetery of the Residential Schools, while our "Catholic" Prime Minister is calling on the Church to once again apologize. What a joke. Sorry for the rant....it just makes my blood boil!

Optatus

Quote from: Pon de Replay on July 01, 2021, 12:23:01 PM
Other times, though, these things come to naught.  There was a series of church burnings in Norway in the early 1990s, but in the end it turned out it was a faddish practice of Satanists on the black metal scene.

That's true, but this is a different sort of climate, I think. Clowns like Varg and Euronymous were members of a fringe sub-culture that was regarded as a haven for freaks by mainstream Norwegian society. It's not like that here at the moment. Too many seemingly normal people are saying: "I don't condone vandalism, but..."