Surrey (British Columbia), July 19: the only church that illuminates is the one in flames
A new church burns down in British Columbia
Radio Canada, 19 July 2021
St. George’s Orthodox Church in Surrey, Greater Vancouver, was destroyed in a fire on Monday morning. It joins a growing list of religious institutions ravaged by fire in recent weeks. At about 3:30 a.m., 10 trucks and 32 firefighters were deployed to the scene of the fire in Surrey’s Whalley neighbourhood. No one was injured and no other buildings were affected by the fire, according to authorities.
In recent weeks, numerous churches have been burned in British Columbia, Yellowknife, Alberta and Saskatchewan [at least 45 Canadian churches vandalised or burned to date, according to one church website]. Elsewhere in the country, parishes have been vandalised. There is no evidence linking these fires to the recent discovery of unmarked graves near former residential schools for Aboriginal people run by religious congregations. Nevertheless, First Nations people are calling for an end to these acts of vandalism, “which only add to the pain of Aboriginal people”, according to their representatives.
