A small indigenous community in northern Canada is coming together to seek solace and pray for forgiveness following a deadly shooting that killed four people and injured seven others on Friday.
Archbishop Murray Chatlain, of the Catholic archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas, which covers parts of northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, said people of La Loche, a Dene community of 3,000 souls, have been gathering at the local church and the town hall to try to make sense of this terrible tragedy, sharing prayers, gospel music and venting some of their frustrations .
Two of the four victims were teenage brothers. Their grandparents wanted him to ask the parishioners to forgive the shooter and pray for him and the victims during the Sunday service, the archbishop said on the phone from La Loche.
“Our tradition here is that often on masses there will be a particular intention that will be prayed for,” Archbishop Murray said. “And this time it was the family that was most affected by this tragedy, they just wanted to pray for the four people that died, for those who are wounded and for their grandson who was the shooter.”
It’s important to remind his congregation that they are a good people and a good community, so that they don’t give up on attempts to make the community better, said Archbishop Murray, who spent a year living in La Loche on a sabbatical to learn the Dene language.
“When they get this kind of renown, it really can make people feel quite poorly about their place and their home,” said Archbishop Murray.
He reminds his parishioners that tragedies like this are meant for us to ask deeper questions, to ask what needs to change, Archbishop Murray said.
La Loche is a tight-knit family oriented community that like many others in Canada also has to deal with drug and alcohol abuse, he said.
“These things contribute to a lot of pain and I definitely feel that it’s contributed to this situation as well,” Archbishop Murray said.
A 17-year-old is facing four counts of first-degree murder following the mass shooting in La Loche, located about 860 kilometres northwest of provincial capital of Regina.
The teen, whose identity cannot be revealed under Canada’s youth justice system, is also facing seven counts of attempted murder and one count of unauthorised possession of a firearm, officials with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said Monday.
The suspect is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday, RCMP officials said.
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