Shane Schaetzel †☧ (@RealClearCatholic)

CATHOLICS ARE NOT SAFE IN CANADA 🇨🇦 In 2021, the announcement of 215 possible unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, run by the Catholic Church, spread quickly across Canada and the world. Ground-penetrating radar found soil anomalies, but no human remains were ever dug up or confirmed at the site years later. Legacy mainstream-media coverage often described these as “mass graves” tied to genocide, even though many student deaths at residential schools came from diseases like tuberculosis in an era before modern medicine. This story stirred strong emotions and renewed focus on past abuses in the government-funded system. The claims led to serious consequences for Catholics across Canada. More than 80 churches, mostly Catholic, faced vandalism, arson, or destruction in the following months and years. Historic buildings were burned, religious statues damaged, and communities felt targeted. Many Catholics reported rising hostility and blame, with the Church painted as the main villain in Canada’s reconciliation story. Pope Francis later offered apologies, but the damage to Catholic sites and trust continued. The Canadian federal government played a key role in letting this backlash grow. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the church attacks “unacceptable,” but he also said the anger toward the Catholic Church was “fully understandable” because of the residential school history. His government flew flags at half-mast and poured millions into searching for graves and supporting Indigenous communities. However, officials did little to calm the inflamed public reaction or clearly correct the misleading “mass graves” narrative. Overall, the federal government did almost nothing concrete to protect Canadian Catholics during this time. There were no major new security measures, special funds, or task forces for churches facing threats. Arrest rates for the arsons stayed very low. Critics argue that by justifying the anger while focusing only on one side of the issue, federal leaders failed in their duty to safeguard Catholic citizens and their places of worship from violence. Catholics in Quebec should consider secession because the federal Canadian government has shown it cannot or will not protect Catholic communities from targeted violence and cultural blame. Catholics in other provinces should consider the same. This is not the 1800s. If the Canadian federal government will not protect the civil rights of Catholics in the 21st century, it never will. The time has come for independence.