A Catholic church located in the city of Regina, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, was the target of an attempted fire by a man, who has not yet been identified, who threw gasoline on the facade of the place and swore before lighting the fire and fleeing the area.
After the incident, the religious institution published a video showing the arsonist on its Facebook page, with the following statement: “someone started a fire at the entrance to the church office. We urge anyone with information about the perpetrator to contact Regina Police Services or Crime Stoppers.”
The criminal wore a cap that hid his face on the day of the crime. According to a note from local authorities, firefighters were called to the scene of the fire in the early hours of Friday (9).
“Firefighters told police that when they arrived they found the back door on fire. Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire. Investigators on the case determined that it was the result of arson and contacted law enforcement authorities,” the city's police service said.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina lamented the episode in a statement, highlighting that the damage suffered by the church could be worse: “The fire appears to have been limited to the entrance to the rectory. So it was minor damage if we think no one was hurt.”
Although the church was spared catastrophe, the arson is causing disruptions to mass times. On the community website, there is a notice about changes to activities due to the incident. “Due to the arson and necessary cleaning, there will be no Eucharist scheduled at Blessed Sacrament Church until next week.”
Religious services scheduled for last weekend were canceled or moved to another location, as were midday masses scheduled for earlier this week.
Blessed Sacrament Church is the Catholic faith community and oldest church in Regina. The current church building dates from 1905.
The arson comes at a time when nearly 100 churches in Canada have been vandalized or burned down over the past three years, following a series of allegations that more than 750 bodies belonging to Indigenous people were buried beneath a Catholic school in Saskatchewan. The targeted churches belong to multiple Christian denominations, including Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran.
Fire investigators in Canada have concluded that 24 of the 33 church fires that occurred over the past three years were acts of arson. Another 60 churches located in several provinces and territories in the west of the country were also vandalized.
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