Winnipeg, Canada, Feb 13, 2025 / 14:35 pm
A 50-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon, and disturbing an assemblage of persons after disrupting a Feb. 9 evening Mass at Holy Ghost Parish in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada.
According to Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) testimony — corroborated by video of the incident that has been shared online — the suspect, Pawel Olownia, approached and attempted to stab the parish’s 38-year-old pastor with a knife near the altar. The priest made a screaming sound as he retreated from the attack.
“As the suspect approached the pastor, luckily he was able to see this, whether he saw he had a knife or his sixth sense kicked in, and he was able to avoid getting assaulted by the suspect,” Constable Stephen Spencer, public information officer with the WPS, told local media outlets.
Immediately after the priest escaped unharmed, and as video showed, “the suspect drove the knife into the altar before sitting in a chair at the back of the altar,” a WPS news release stated.
An off-duty Royal Canadian Mounted Police member worked with other members of the congregation to detain Olownia until the police arrived to take him into custody.
Investigators have not found a previous link between the attacker and his intended victim nor a motive for the incident. The priest reportedly said he had never encountered the man before.
“I’ve been on 23 years, and this is the first I’ve seen of this type of incident in a church, so it’s quite different, for sure, and quite alarming,” Spencer said.
The Archdiocese of Winnipeg shared a statement with The Catholic Register in Canada on Feb. 10 that stated: “The Archdiocese of Winnipeg is aware of the attempted stabbing incident during the 6 p.m. Mass yesterday at Holy Ghost Parish in Winnipeg. The man has been taken into custody, and we await a judge’s ruling. We are grateful that no one was hurt.”
Olownia remains in custody pending court proceedings.
This story was first published by The Catholic Register on Feb. 12, 2025, and has been reprinted here with permission.
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