08/20/2025
Bearing Witness, Building Justice: A New Chapter for the CCRL’s Church Attacks Database
by CCRL | Aug 20, 2025 | Appeals, Events, Issues, Media Watch, News
Toronto, ON August 20, 2025 – In recent years, Catholics across Canada have witnessed a sobering trend: a surge in attacks against our churches and sacred sites—often met with silence, confusion, or indifference.
Since 2021, acts of arson, vandalism, and desecration have multiplied, many of them explicitly targeting Catholics.
The Catholic Civil Rights League’s Church Attacks Database was created to confront this reality with clarity and conviction. By carefully documenting incidents across the country, the CCRL has built a public record where no official one exists—one that is now helping shape national and international awareness.
Now, this essential work is entering a new phase.
Coming Fall 2025: A Major Relaunch of the Database and Website
We are pleased to announce that a new and improved Church Attacks Database will launch in Fall 2025, alongside a fully revamped CCRL website.
This expanded version of the database will feature:
Improved navigation, filtering, and search capabilities
Interactive maps and visual tools to display the scale and location of incidents
Faster updates and more robust categorization
User-friendly reporting features to allow verified submissions
These upgrades will better serve researchers, journalists, legal advocates, policymakers—and the faithful—who seek truth amid a culture of disregard and amnesia.
The new CCRL website will also offer improved accessibility, deeper integration of Catholic thought, and a strengthened platform to support our mission of defending religious freedom and promoting Catholic teachings in civil discourse.
A Call to Action: Help Fund the Future of Catholic Witness
To bring this project to completion, we are launching a major fundraising campaign. The redevelopment of the database and website represents a significant investment in both infrastructure and public witness—and we are counting on our supporters to help make it a reality.
By supporting this campaign, you are helping to:
Ensure that attacks on churches are recorded, not ignored
Build a digital platform that informs and inspires public response
Uphold the dignity of Catholic institutions and freedom of worship
An Urgent Appeal: Help Us Begin Today
While our full campaign will launch alongside the new site in the fall, we are asking our supporters and friends to help start the work now. The reality is simple: without early financial support, we cannot move forward.
The CCRL receives no government or institutional funding. Our efforts—including the Church Attacks Database—are sustained only through the generosity of individuals who believe in the mission. If you are able, we humbly ask you to make a gift today. Your contribution at this early stage will allow development work to begin and ensure that this vital project stays on track.
Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to launching a platform that will serve the Church, defend truth, and stand firm for religious freedom in Canada.
Donate Now — Please visit https://ccrl.ca/support/ to contribute securely online.
Media Recognition: Elevating the Voice of the Faithful
The Church Attacks Database has already proven its value in shaping national conversation.
It has been cited by Canadian Catholic News, which reported in early 2024 that “at least 85 Catholic churches have been set ablaze or vandalized since late May 2021”—a figure drawn directly from the CCRL’s data.
Our database has drawn interest not only in Canada, but internationally, highlighting the transnational concern surrounding anti-Catholic violence.
One of the most notable endorsements came from Terry Newman, respected columnist and editor for the National Post, who has repeatedly drawn attention to the alarming pattern of attacks on churches. In a November 2024 opinion piece for the New York Post, she wrote:
“The wave of church arsons has continued… Attempts have been made to track the church attacks across Canada, but there is no single official site monitoring the attacks.”
Her remarks underscore why the CCRL’s initiative is so urgently needed—and why the work must continue and expand.
Terry Newman and others have rightly recognized what the Church Attacks Database represents: a response rooted not in retaliation, but in responsibility; not in outrage, but in truth.
Why This Work Matters
Every recorded incident is more than a line of data—it is a testimony to sacred space desecrated, to communities wounded, and to a society challenged to remember what it must not forget.
In documenting these acts, the CCRL affirms that the Church is not alone. We insist, with peaceful resolve, that Catholic institutions deserve the same protection, dignity, and public support as any other community of faith.
The Church Attacks Database is not merely a resource; it is a moral witness.
Join Us in This Mission
As we look ahead to Fall 2025, we ask you to join us: in prayer, in witness, and in support.
Together, we can ensure that:
The wounds inflicted on our churches are not ignored;
Those who seek to erase or silence the faith are met with peaceful but unflinching truth;
And Catholic Canadians have a voice—firm, faithful, and heard.
Please stay connected for more details on our fundraising campaign, and thank you for standing with us as we continue to defend the Church in the public square.
Please visit https://ccrl.ca/support/ to contribute securely online.
We appeal to any of you who are able to send a donation to the CCRL by clicking here or by mailing a cheque to the CCRL at PO Box 84505, RPO Bloor West, Toronto, ON, M6S 4Z7, or by calling the office at (416) 466-8244.
About the CCRL
Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) (www.ccrl.ca) assists in creating conditions within which Catholic teachings can be better understood, cooperates with other organizations in defending civil rights in Canada, and opposes defamation and discrimination against Catholics on the basis of their beliefs. The CCRL was founded in 1985 as an independent lay organization with a large nationwide membership base. The CCRL is a Canadian non-profit organization entirely supported by the generosity of its members.
To donate to the CCRL, please click here.
For further information:
[email protected]
416-466-8244
https://ccrl.ca/events/newchapterforccrldatabase/
