By Canadian Press

Church Fire

Youth charged with arson of vacant NE Alberta Catholic church

Jul 12, 2021 | 8:09 AM

KEHEWIN CREE NATION, Alta. – A youth has been charged with setting a fire that has destroyed an abandoned Catholic church on a First Nation in Alberta.

RCMP say in a news release that police and firefighters responded to a report of a fire at Our Lady of Mercy church on the Kehewin Cree Nation, southwest of Cold Lake, on Friday night.

They say the church had been vacant for a number of years and was slated to be demolished.

Police say no one was injured, and a youth — whose age and gender were not given — has been charged with arson and will appear in Bonnyville Provincial Youth Court on Sept. 21.

A statement from Bishop Paul Terrio of the Diocese of St. Paul says the church was built in 1984 and that it belonged to the Kehewin First Nation.

The statement says the building was declared unfit for public use due to mold and dampness in 2019, and since then mass for parishioners has been held in the Reserve Community Hall.

(The Canadian Press)