Fire at Catholic church on Siksika First Nation land may have been intentionally set
Nobody was in the church at the time, and there was no damage
There was no structural damage after a fire was put out at Siksika Nation Catholic Church in Alberta early Monday morning.
RCMP responded to the church at 12:30 a.m. They say preliminary investigation indicates someone deliberately set the fire.
No one was in the church at the time and no one was injured.
Four Catholic churches on First Nation lands in British Columbia have burned down this past week, and B.C. RCMP say they are treating those fires as suspicious.
- 2 more Catholic churches burned down in B.C.'s Interior
- 'Ashamed of my faith': Some Catholics struggle after discovery of unmarked graves at residential schools
The Catholic church has been facing a reckoning following the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools in Saskatchewan and B.C. There is no indication yet that the church fires are connected to that news.
On Saturday, a statue of Pope John Paul II outside of an Edmonton Catholic church was smeared with red-painted hand prints.
The provincial fire inspector and Gleichen RCMP are investigating the possible arson.
Siksika reserve is located less than 100 kilometres east of Calgary.