Yet another Catholic church in the West has been destroyed by arsonists in the wake of shocking discoveries of two mass grave sites at former residential schools..At 3:20 a.m. Wednesday, RCMP Morinville were called to a fire at the century-old St. Jean Baptiste church at 10034 100 Ave., 30 km north of Edmonton.“The structure was lost in the fire, which caused the evacuation of nearby homes and businesses, including a home for the elderly,” said RCMP in a release..“Morinville Fire is on scene and the RCMP are treating this investigation as a suspicious fire at this time. Fire investigators and RCMP general investigation section are assisting. The Town of Morinville and Sturgeon Victim Services is actively supporting those evacuated.”.“Having a hard time processing this right now. The historic & beautiful St Jean Baptist’s parish in Morinville burned to the ground last night,” said Neil Korotash, who videoed the fire..The were two suspicious fires on southern Alberta’s Siksika First Nation early this week..On Tuesday, Gleichen RCMP were called to a structure fire at the Siksika Anglican Church situated in Map 4..“Upon attending the location, a broken window was located. An attempt had been made to start a fire inside, however was unsuccessful. The suspect(s) fled the scene prior to police arrival,” said RCMP..On Monday, RCMP were called to another break-in and fire, this time at a Catholic Church at Siksika..Over the last week in BC, six churches, mainly Catholic ones, have been set alight by arsonists..The spate of fires follows the news of hundreds of bodies discovered in unmarked graves near former residential schools in Saskatchewan and BC..On May 31, St. Joseph’s church in Kamloops was vandalized with the words “banished” and “crime scene” spray painted on the walls. The chief of the TkÌemlúps te Secwépemc, Rosanne Casimir, condemned the vandalism..On June 12, vandals wrote “release the records” and “killers” on the front entrance of St. Augustine’s Church in Vancouver, and St. Joseph’s Parish in Port Moody was also found vandalized the morning of June 13..A statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Edmonton was vandalized with red paint on Saturday, June 26, 2021..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
