- The leader of Canada's Conservative Party is sounding the alarm about anti-Christian violence after a more than 100-year-old church was destroyed by an alleged arsonist.
The Saint-Simon church in the Acadian Peninsula, which is in New Brunswick northeast of Maine, burned to the ground last week after it was intentionally set on fire, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Authorities responded to the fire shortly after 4am, but it had already consumed much of the church, which was empty at the time. No one was harmed, but the historic building is considered a total loss.
Churches around the world have been burned down due to arson, hate crimes, accidents, and historical conflicts, with notable spikes in recent years in North America and Europe.
Recent Incidents
United States: In 2026, a historic South Bushwick Reformed Church in Brooklyn, New York, built in 1863, was intentionally set on fire, devastating the congregation and community, with authorities investigating it as arson. A homeless man was arrested in connection with the fire and had allegedly planned attacks on other churches as well.
. In Louisiana, three Black churches—Greater Union Baptist Church, St. Mary Baptist Church, and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church—were burned within ten days, motivated by racial hatred, reflecting a continuing pattern of hate crimes against African-American churches.
. Historically, attacks on Black churches in the U.S. have included bombings and arson dating back to the civil rights era, such as the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four girls.
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Canada: Since May 2021, at least 33 churches have burned to the ground, with 24 confirmed as arson. Many of these fires occurred on Indigenous lands, including St. Gregory’s Church in Osoyoos, B.C., and Sacred Heart Church on the Penticton Indian Band. The fires have been linked to unresolved tensions over residential school histories, though motives remain unclea
