An Edmonton priest has been put on leave indefinitely after comments he made about Jewish and Indigenous communities and about the discovery of bodies on former residential school grounds.
Rev. Marcin Mironiuk recently said unmarked graves of Indigenous children are a lie. He was a priest at the Our Lady Queen of Poland Catholic Church at 9906 83 Avenue.
In a statement posted to its website, the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton said Mironiuk was removed on Aug. 12 after consultation with the Polish superiors, the Oblate Fathers of Assumption Province and the affected communities in Edmonton.
“The statements regarding the Jewish and Indigenous communities and residential schools were thoroughly unacceptable and cannot be ignored,” the statement read. “They are offensive and have caused further pain to the Jewish community, to the Indigenous community, to residential school survivors and to all Canadians.”
A demonstration about the comments turned violent on Sunday.
A group of six First Nations demonstrators said they turned out to hear an apology from the priest.
“We had a little demonstration, we had signs, and we were telling the congregation that their priest is a liar, so we brought out signs, and we brought out flags to honour the children of the unmarked graves so their voices can be heard,” Elder Taz Augustine said.
Augustine said things turned ugly when they tried to enter the church.
“We peacefully went into the front door, and when we entered into the front door, five or six men came running down the stairs and threw me against the wall and grappled with me and assaulted me,” she said.
“They grabbed the other people, and fists were flying, and they were throwing us out of the church and pushing us out of the church with their hands, and it was actually an assault on me and other people.”
Augustine said her arm was injured in the commotion.
Edmonton police are investigating but have not released information about charges.
The archdiocese didn’t comment on the demonstration, citing the ongoing investigation.
The group is planning another demonstration on Aug. 29 at St. Joseph’s Basilica.
“It just confirms to me that people need to understand that we are not going to shut up about this anymore,” Augustine said.
“How do I feel about it? I’m even more pissed off. I’m even more incensed about this nonsense of people telling lies against the unmarked graves. I’m even more appalled that people who say they’re people of God are still attacking us and telling us we’re liars.”
The video of Mironiuk’s comments was removed from YouTube, and it wasn’t clear what comments he made about the Jewish community.
An apology from Mironiuk has been posted online and references the massacre of Jews in Jedwabne.