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Posted: Jul 01, 2021 4:04 PM MT | Last Updated: July 2
A statue of Jesus was covered with red paint outside of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Sunalta in southwest Calgary.(Julie Debeljak/CBC)
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
At least 10 churches in Calgary have been defaced with red paint, following a national reckoning over the Catholic church s role in the residential school system.
Police say the places of worship were splashed with red paint or red handprints, and in one case a window was broken so paint could be tossed inside.
At one church, the phrases we were children and our lives matter were painted in red across the building s door.
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The acts of vandalism discovered on Canada Day appear to be the latest in a series of recent protests against the church’s historic involvement in Canada’s residential school system.
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Try refreshing your browser, or Calgary police investigate after at least 11 Catholic churches vandalized with orange and red paint Back to video
The vandalism at the churches included spattered paint over a statue of Jesus Christ, painted handprints on doors and text reading “Charge the priests” and “Our lives matter.”
At one church, a window was smashed so paint could also be thrown inside. At another, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Renfrew, the number 751 was spray-painted across the sign, a reference to the 751 unmarked graves identified by Saskatchewan’s Cowessess First Nation at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
Article content
The acts of vandalism discovered on Canada Day appear to be the latest in a series of recent protests against the church’s historic involvement in Canada’s residential school system.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or Catholic churches vandalized with paint Back to video
The vandalism at the churches included spattered paint over a statue of Jesus Christ, painted handprints on doors and text reading “Charge the priests” and “Our lives matter.”
At one church, a window was smashed so paint could also be thrown inside. At another, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Renfrew, the number 751 was spray-painted across the sign, a reference to the 751 unmarked graves identified by Saskatchewan’s Cowessess First Nation at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
Article content
The acts of vandalism discovered on Canada Day appear to be the latest in a series of recent protests against the church’s historic involvement in Canada’s residential school system.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser, or Calgary police investigate after at least 10 Catholic churches vandalized with orange and red paint Back to video
The vandalism at the churches included spattered paint over a statue of Jesus Christ, painted handprints on doors and text reading “Charge the priests” and “Our lives matter.”
At one church, a window was smashed so paint could also be thrown inside. At another, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Renfrew, the number 751 was spray-painted across the sign, a reference to the 751 unmarked graves identified by Saskatchewan’s Cowessess First Nation at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.