False claims of indigenous mass graves linked to church attacks

A flurry of media reports involving claims that hundreds of indigenous children were buried beneath Catholic schools across Canada has reportedly left nearly 100 churches vandalized or burned down.

The attacks are linked to now-debunkedreports, including one from a Canadian “first nation” group that alleged more than 750 bodies were found buried under a Catholic-run school in Canada’s Saskatchewan province.

That report, which claimed there were 751 unmarked graves at a cemetery near the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School, has since been debunked after zero graves were excavated despite a two-year effort.

Such claims sparked a wave of vandalism and arson attacks on Catholic and Protestant churches amid a rise in anti-Christian and anti-Catholic sentiment. 

Since the initial report in June 2021, 96 churches across Canada have been desecrated, destroyed or vandalized, according to Canadian independent media outlet True North.

Ranging in denomination from Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran and others, the targeted churches are located as far north as Yellowknife in Canada’s Northwest Territories to Chopaka Catholic Church on the border between British Columbia and Washington state.

Of the 33 church fires, Canadian investigators have declared 24 to be arson cases so far, while 60 additional churches were vandalized across hundreds of miles, including 11 churches vandalized within hours on the night of June 30, 2021. 

Several of the attacks targeted church doctrine, signage or symbols, including:

• An “every child matters” display that was lit on fire Aug. 3, 2021, at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church in Brandon, Manitoba;

• Anti-Catholic messaging with the words “killer” and “racist” on the exterior of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Victoria, B.C.;

• A large cross that was cut down July 12, 2021, on Mount Tzouhalem located on Vancouver Island, B.C.; and

• Messages written in red paint blaming Catholics for “murdering” indigenous children at St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in London, Ontario.

While some reports about unmarked graves were later proven to be linked to official cemeteries that included the remains of many adults, members of Canada’s political and media establishment were among those who voiced at least tacit support for the public outrage.

Media outlets like the Toronto Star and The Washington Post were forced to issue corrections after initially reporting the burial sites were “mass graves” even as the investigation was still ongoing. 

Gerald Butts, a Canadian political consultant who served as senior adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau until 2019, tweeted that burning churches “may be understandable,” while Naomi Sayers, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, came under fire in July 2021 for replying “Burn it all down” to reports of Catholic churches being vandalized.

Sayers later backtracked on her tweet, saying, “Burn it all down. Doesn’t literally mean, burn it down.”

Nesta Matthews, a radio host at a radio station in New Brunswick, called for the burning of all churches built on “first nations” land.

Matthews wrote: “Burn the churches down. Arrest any former staff that were actually there and any current staff that won’t provide documentation. Sell everything they own in Canada and give it to survivors. Dismantle it completely.”

At one point, the Canadian prime minister, himself a Catholic, demanded that the pope come to his country and issue a formal apology for the mass graves.

“I have spoken personally directly with His Holiness Pope Francis to press upon him how important it is not just that he makes an apology but that he makes an apology to indigenous Canadians on Canadian soil,” Trudeau said in June 2021. 

“I know that the Catholic Church leadership is looking and very actively engaged in what next steps can be taken.”

In a 2022 trip to Canada, Francis apologized to indigenous communities in Canada. 

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