A statue of Pope John Paul II was found covered in red handprints following the discovery of the remains of hundreds of indigenous people.
Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005. He visited Canada three times.
The vandalisms started after an announcement that more than 751 unmarked graves were discovered at the site of a former Marieval Indian Residential School on Cowessess First Nation land in Saskatchewan.
The country’s residential school system, and the Catholic Church’s involvement in the system, have also come under public inspection following the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former Catholic-run residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Parishioners attending the Catholic Church were shocked when they saw the statue covered in red blood-like handprints on Sunday morning, on June 27, with red footprints tracking to the door of the church and teddy bears and stuffed animals placed around the statue’s base.
Andrzej Makarewicz, first vice-president of the Canadian Polish Congress Alberta Society believed that ‘this is a hate crime’, adding that the vandalization hurts the community.
Police in Edmonton said that a female suspect was seen vandalizing the statue of Pope John Paul ll with paint outside the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Edmonton north of the city’s downtown at around 11 PM on Saturday night.
The base of the statue was defaced with red paint and red handprints.
Scott Pattison, police spokesperson, cited in an email through the Edmonton Sun, that the EPS Hate Crimes and Violent Extremism Unit has been notified.
“The file will remain with the division until HCVEU has had an opportunity to properly assess this situation,” Pattison said.
From June 21 through June 26, four Catholic churches located on tribal lands in British Columbia were burned to the ground.
The historic St. Ann’s Catholic Church on the Chuchuwayha, a Catholic church on Chopaka land, Sacred Heart Church in Penticton Indian Band, and St. Gregory’s Church about 25 miles away in the town of Oliver, on the Osoyoos Indian Band was burnt down.
On June 24, the front of a Saskatoon cathedral, St. Paul’s Co-Cathedral, was tagged with red handprints and the words “we were children” were painted on the doors.
Richard Smith, Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton says in a statement that they are saddened by the vandalism and that the parish and archdiocese “stand with the Indigenous Peoples in this moment of profound sorrow and look forward to the healing of our relationships.”
“At a time when our country is acutely aware of the need for reconciliation with the Indigenous Peoples of this land,” he said. “It is helpful to recall the words with which Pope John Paul II, during his 1987 visit to Fort Simpson, strongly affirmed the inherent goodness of Indigenous culture and traditions, and expressed solidarity with the First Nations, Metis, and Innu Peoples in defense of their rights.”
Several statues of Christian leaders and figures who played roles in Canada’s colonial past have been painted red or torn down by protesters.
Indigenous and Catholic leaders have condemned the recent series of church vandalism in Canada, including the “suspicious” burning of Catholic churches.
The Canadian government has apologized for the deaths, but following the discovery of the remains Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau called on Pope Francis to also make an apology.