Man who tried to stab pastor had earlier said he wanted to kill a priest, court told

WINNIPEG – A man who tried to stab a Catholic pastor in the middle of a Sunday religious service last winter had previously gone to hospital and said he planned to kill a priest, a court has been told.

Pawel Olownia has been found not criminally responsible for the Feb. 9 incident at Holy Ghost Parish, which saw him unsuccessfully attempt to attack a pastor with a knife bearing a 10-centimetre blade.

The cleric escaped and, in a move captured on livestream video, Olownia stuck the knife into the altar and was arrested with the help of parishioners including an off-duty police officer who attended the service.

Olownia, who was 50 at the time, was charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assault with a weapon and disturbing a religious assembly.

Olownia underwent a psychiatric assessment that found he suffered from delusions that he was being persecuted by authorities.

The report found that Olownia held “a long-standing belief he was continuously being video recorded by the church and the Canadian government,” provincial court Judge Lisa Labossiere said during the June 23 court hearing.

Olownia also believed he was a celebrity who had inspired popular songs and wanted privacy, she added, and was experiencing symptoms of psychosis at the time of the attack.

A Crown attorney and Olownia, who represented himself at the hearing, both asked the judge for a finding of not criminally responsible, and Labossiere agreed.

“Jail is not (an) ideal place for me to be, especially if I’m having mental issues,” Olownia told court.

The ruling means Olownia, who had been kept in custody, will avoid jail time and either be released or sent to a psychiatric hospital unit following a hearing before the Criminal Code Review Board. Labossiere ordered that he been transferred to a hospital pending the board hearing.

The board did not return a request for information about Olownia’s hearing, and the Archdiocese of Winnipeg did not respond to an interview request.

Olownia had previously been hospitalized and had been diagnosed with mental health issues, court was told. At some point before the attack, he went to a hospital for help, saying that he was going to kill a priest, and was hospitalized, court was told.

There were no details at the hearing about how Olownia left the hospital.

An official with the Canadian Mental Health Association said the case raises questions about what services were made available.

“This gentleman sought help … and the system was not able to, or didn’t have the right protocols in place to, build a prevention strategy,” Marion Cooper, executive director of the association for Manitoba, said Wednesday.

“Having the hospital begin to reflect on what has happened, what might have been the breakdown, would be a really responsible part of our system’s response in this situation.”

Shared Health, the province’s central health planning agency, which is also responsible for the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, said it would not comment on the case due to privacy requirements under the province’s Public Health Information Act.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2025.