Burning Churches

The remains of the Chopaka Church on Lower Similkameen land.
Photo Chief Keith Crow

Catholic churches are being burned. Who does this hurt? Indigenous Catholics who, at this time, need to be able to worship in safety, and to have a place to grieve together for the loss of lives at residential schools. Whoever is burning our churches, they are only inflecting more pain and suffering.

A conversation with a close friend early the morning of the burning of a church on the Lower Similkameen Nation, on the Chopaka reserve, confirmed the anguish of an elder, a woman who has attended and cared for that church for decades.

Ben woodfinden provides a balanced perspective in his article for the National Post.

(B)urning down places of worship is always wrong, period. If you can’t bring yourself to say that then shame on you. What makes these fires even worse in some ways is that the people most hurt are Indigenous Canadians and Indigenous Catholics especially. The churches burnt down were on Indigenous land serving Indigenous people. Around 42 per cent of Indigenous Canadians identify as Catholic, many who likely have been wrestling with the realities of history while also trying to figure out what this means for their faith.

The people most likely to insist that we must listen to Indigenous voices are the ones who seem most willing to ignore the pain and shock some Indigenous Canadians are expressing in response to the fires. Penticton Indian Band Chief Greg Gabriel spoke at Sacred Heart Mission Church and said “This church has been here since 1911. It was a fixture in our community … Many in our community were members and involved in services. Some of our elders are attached to the church and have come here today very sad. They are hurting but also they understand.” Lower Similkameen Indian Band Chief Keith Crow, where the Chopeka church is located said he was “angry” and that “I don’t see any positive coming from this and it’s going to be tough.”

These churches played an important role in these communities. From important life events like marriage and funerals, to being places of worship for local Indigenous Catholics, burning down these churches hurts these communities more than anyone else. Even if you can’t bring yourself to condemn the burning of Catholic churches in the abstract, if you care about the wellbeing of Indigenous people then you should condemn attacks on their places of worship especially. These acts do nothing to further reconciliation. - Ben Woodfinden, National Post

Regular readers know that I am the child of a mixed-race dad - African American and Cowichan - and an English mom. I am sad that churches have been burned. I am sad that those who have contributed their resources to building and maintaining their buildings have had to watch as their spiritual homes have gone up in flames. Bottom line, nothing good is served by destroying property held in trust from generation to generation, especially churches where people worship God and have celebrated baptisms, weddings and funerals for generations. I understand that people are angry; anger is a reasonable response to the decades of cultural warfare enacted against indigenous peoples. I, too, am angry that Catholics enabled government policies that were criticized by Catholics at the time of their enactment. But - burn down a church?! That's vengeance. Those churches that have been destroyed are people's homes! The perpetrators of these crimes, of arson, are unwittingly extending those policies that robbed people of their lives and culture. The churches are built on holy ground. These attacks are sacrileges, violations of sacred sites.