Wood Buffalo RCMP say they are searching for suspects following a fire at a church in the Northern Alberta community of Janvier on the night of Dec. 15.
In a Dec. 17 news release, police said officers responded to a call around 10:30 p.m. about a structure fire in Janvier, roughly 120 kilometres south of Fort McMurray. When the responding officers arrived they found the church was “fully engulfed in flames.”
According to police, witnesses saw suspects driving away from the church in a silver sedan around the time of the fire. By the time the flames were extinguished, the church was completely destroyed.
Bishop Gary Franken of the Diocese of St. Paul told The Epoch Times that the destroyed building was the community’s older church adjacent to a new building, St. Gabriel Catholic Church, which was not damaged by the fire. He said there had been discussions about turning the older church into a museum, but no final decisions had been made.
“These church buildings belong to the First Nations band that they are on,” he said. “The Diocese of St. Paul is responsible for providing the ministry, with a priest coming down from Fort McMurray on a Sunday once a month for Mass.”
In a video posted to Facebook on Dec. 16, Councillor Shane Janvier of the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation said the church held “significance” for the surrounding community.
“Lots of celebration here at this church over the years; lots of weddings, lots of baptisms. This is a place where we’ve come to say our last respects to our loved ones, our ancestors,” he said, adding that his first Holy Communion took place at the church.
“We’re Denésoliné people. If we’re going to make statements that this is our land—we’re going to fight for this—then we’d better damn well learn to respect this land,” Mr. Janvier said.
The fire is the latest in a series of suspected arsons targeting churches. Last week, RCMP in Barrhead said they were investigating fires that destroyed two churches in the community northwest of Edmonton, suspecting arson.
Police responded to the first fire at the Glenreagh Church at 7:52 p.m. on Dec. 7 and then were called to a second fire at the United Church at 9 p.m., according to a news release. RCMP said while the fires were put out quickly, both churches were “extremely damaged.”
A wave of church arsons began in 2021 after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation claimed ground-penetrating radar had uncovered the possible burial sites of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. The sites have not yet been excavated to confirm.
A total of 83 churches in Canada have been vandalized, burned down, or desecrated since the discovery of the possible burial sites in Kamloops.
