Police Ask Residents for Security Footage in Search for Calgary Church Arson Suspect

Alberta RCMP were called out to a fire at The United Church in Barrhead County on Dec. 7, 2023. (Courtesy of Alberta RCMP)

Authorities are investigating a fire believed to have been started by arson at a northeast Calgary church.

“The Calgary Fire Department attended and extinguished the fire quickly, however the church sustained minor damage,” a May 2 press release from the city of Calgary said.

“We are now asking for the public’s help to locate the man believed to be responsible.”

Police believe a man entered the parking lot of Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Roman Catholic Church at around 8:15 p.m. on April 21. It appears the man set fire to a nativity scene before leaving the scene, heading south into an alley between 16th Street N.E. and 16A Street N.E.

The suspect is approximately six feet tall and between 20 and 40 years old with a “heavy build,” police said. He was last seen wearing a neon-yellow hoodie, black gloves, grey sweatpants, black running shoes, and a black backpack.

The Calgary Police arson unit and hate crime prevention team are investigating the incident and asking residents in the Mayland Heights neighbourhood who may have footage of the relevant walkways and alleyways on April 21 between 6 and 9 p.m. to contact police.

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Father Shibu Kallarakkal, pastor of the northeast Calgary parish, told The Calgary Herald he believes the arsonist’s actions were misplaced resentment, adding that he forgives whoever committed the crime. “We don’t have any hard feelings,” he said.

Church Arsons

A wave of cross-country church arsons began in 2021 after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation claimed ground-penetrating radar had uncovered the possible burial sites of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. The sites have not yet been excavated to confirm the presence of bodies.

More than 83 churches across Canada have been vandalized, burned down, or desecrated since then. In December 2023 alone, there were four church fires in Alberta suspected of being arson.

The RCMP said last December arson was believed to be the motive behind fires set within an hour of each other that destroyed two churches in a community northwest of Edmonton.

Just a week later, the RCMP announced it was searching for suspects following a fire at a church in the Northern Alberta community of Janvier. Bishop Gary Franken of the Diocese of St. Paul told The Epoch Times that the destroyed building was the community’s older church adjacent to a new building, St. Gabriel Catholic Church, which was not damaged by the fire.