Prime minister slams church burnings, vandalism

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the burning and vandalism of Catholic churches that has followed discoveries of unmarked graves at former schools for Indigenous children.

Several Catholic churches have recently been vandalized or damaged in fires following the discovery of more than 1,100 unmarked graves at the sites of three former residential schools run by the church in British

Columbia and Saskatchewan that generations of Indigenous children had been forced to attend.

The nation also saw a series of attacks Thursday — Canada Day — on statues of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and other historical figures.

Trudeau, himself a Catholic, said he understands the anger many people feel toward the federal government and Catholic church. The government has apologized for the schools and Trudeau has called on Pope Francis, too, to make a formal apology.

“It’s real and it is fully understandable given the shameful history,” he told a news conference Friday. “I can’t help but think that burning down churches is actually depriving people who are in need of grieving and healing and mourning from places where they can grieve and reflect and look for support.”

On Thursday, statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature were tied with ropes and pulled down by a crowd.

Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, said he was shocked at what happened.

“I personally wouldn’t have participated in that,“he said, though he added, “Mind you, it has been a very triggering time over the past few weeks.”

Some 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, which operated for more than 120 years in Canada. More than 60% of the schools were run by the Catholic Church.

Earlier this week, a First Nations group in British Columbia said it had used radar to find 182 human remains in unmarked graves at a site close to a former residential school near Cranbrook.

That followed reports of similar massive findings at two other such churchrun schools, one of more than 600 unmarked graves in southern Saskatchewan and another of 215 bodies in British Columbia.