Former 'landmark' Catholic church northwest of Saskatoon burns to the ground

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Former 'landmark' Catholic church northwest of Saskatoon burns to the ground 'In light of everything that's going on in the country, it's just a little bit suspicious' Photo by Courtesy Lyn Swystun for Postmedia

Article content Lynn Swystun was cutting the lawn at her home near Redberry Lake when she saw the smoke.

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Article content She hopped into her car to check out the source as she started driving toward a nearby former Roman Catholic church. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Former 'landmark' Catholic church northwest of Saskatoon burns to the ground Back to video “I didn’t get very far from home, then I realized it was our landmark church that was burning.” Swystun said in an interview Thursday afternoon as she watched fire consume the church. “It wasn’t a church that was used, but it was a landmark for us.” Swystun’s husband and others from the rural area nearby brought water tankers and a sprayer, but opted not to use them as the fire had already reduced the church almost to ash. Swystun and others watching the fire said they believed the Polish church had been there for at least 100 years. RCMP arrived Thursday afternoon, Swystun said. Nobody on hand knew the church’s official name, but a plaque had been placed near it to explain its historical significance.

Article content “It’s not going to be rebuilt,” an emotional Swystun said. “It’s really, really sad. In light of everything that’s going on in the country, it’s just a little bit suspicious.” Photo by Courtesy Lyn Swystun for Postmedia Several churches in Canada, including some prominent Catholic churches, have been burned in the wake of revelations that unmarked graves have been located on the grounds of former Indian residential schools that were run by churches. There was no immediate indication about the cause of Thursday’s fire near Redberry Lake. The Cowessess First Nation in southeast Saskatchewan revealed last month that it had located 751 unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school using ground-penetrating radar. More On This Topic While some cheer on the destruction of churches, First Nations pick up the pieces Burning churches is ‘unacceptable’ way to respond to unmarked Indigenous graves: Trudeau Swystun said it took about half an hour for the church to burn to the ground. As the first on the scene, Swystun said the fire definitely began in the church and not nearby. She said the church, which is located on her mother-in-law’s property, was fixed up in the last seven or eight years. A group including her brother-in-law fixed the roof and painted the historic building. “It was a museum,” she said. “The doors were open. You could walk in and out of it and have a look.” [email protected] | twitter.com/thinktankSK

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TigerJas on July 9th, 2021 at 19:02 UTC »

“It wasn’t a church that was used, but it was a landmark for us.”

Isn't that the case with a lot of churches in Eastern Canada? I went through Quebec and Montreal a couple of years ago and it seemed like most older churches where either libraries or day care centers or some hipster space.

Zero0mega on July 9th, 2021 at 19:01 UTC »

You think people might be keeping an eye on these after the first 14

AcePolitics8492 on July 9th, 2021 at 18:20 UTC »

This comment section is a warzone what the hell happened?