In the space of just 11 days this June, Canada’s two biggest cities mourned the line-of-duty deaths of Constables Marc Pinizzotto of Toronto Police Service and Mohamed Lamine Benredouane of the Montreal City Police Service. 

Pinizzotto, a 43-year-old Emergency Task Force veteran and father of twins, was fatally shot while executing a high-risk search warrant. Just days later in Montreal, Benredouane, 34, was shot and killed during a shootout in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. He was the first SPVM officer to die this way in more than 24 years.

The following days saw thousands of grieving first responders, fellow police officers, family, friends, colleagues, dignitaries and civilians from across Canada gather at the funerals of each man, filling Etobicoke’s Congress Centre and Montreal’s Bell Centre respectively. 

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As the nation collectively mourned the two tragedies, police chaplains from both forces were quietly reminded of their vital, often veiled role. In their continued aftermath, both divisions' leaders have stepped forward to offer accompaniment and spiritual companionship to officers and extended service members confronting trauma and profound grief. 

“ I just finished doing the funeral for Constable Pinizzotto, and his mother called me last week,” Wendell Gibbs, Toronto Police chaplain and community advocate, told The Catholic Register in late July. 

“She had done so to get a bit of encouragement and to let me know how the family was doing. Toronto Police Service does provide good support as well, but as leaders, we are there in the middle of the trauma — that presence does matter — as does being there in the aftermath when we are praying and supporting these people.” 

Gibbs is a full-time pastor at First Baptist Church Toronto. He started as one of Toronto’s volunteer chaplains in 2009, serving 43 Division. Today, he serves TPS across multiple divisions. In 2024 alone, he attended over 30 events and dedicated 192 hours through chaplaincy visits, prayer walks and presence at retirements, memorials and community events — far beyond the minimum requirements of TPS’ volunteer chaplains. 

For him, police chaplaincy stands as, in addition to a unit concerned with unwavering accompaniment, a unique bridge-building opportunity and humanizing force in police-community relations. 

Even still, the nature of policing, as unfortunately illustrated by this summer’s tragedies, often forces chaplains’ roles to be steeped in high-profile compassion during moments of crisis, followed by the quieter, sustained work of healing during the aftermath. In Gibbs’ case, one such moment that sticks out, even to this day, came years earlier during the 2018 Danforth shooting, where two people died and 13 were injured by a gunman who would die during a shootout with police. 

As the news broke late that evening while he was home, Gibbs put on his chaplain uniform and drove to the scene. There, amid the chaos of what was still an active crime scene, he offered his presence to exhausted officers and command staff.

“Around 1 a.m., the superintendent came and told me the mother was heading to SickKids, and the father, who had been shot in the leg, was at St. Michael's Hospital, but both don’t know their daughter has died. He asked me, ‘Would you be able to go to SickKids and just be there?’ ” Gibbs recalled. 

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“I was there until 3 in the morning, awhile after the doctors had given (the mother) the news. She even called me to come and pray with her at one point. At the funeral, when I walked in front of her, she knew I was the chaplain who prayed for her. In ways like that, your presence and your response do matter.” 

Presence and accompaniment, even in the worst of situations, are driving wills shared by Padre Bernard Vadnais, a Catholic priest with specialized training in companionship and the current chaplain for the Montreal City Police Service. Having begun serving the Montreal Fire Department in September 2017, Vadnais began serving the city’s police a year later, making him the only designated chaplain for both fire and police in Montreal, and one of the few in all of Quebec. 

Vadnais shared that, like many chaplains serving all areas of daily life, the core focus on humanity first and being a companion and accompanier even before addressing spiritual dimensions is paramount. It’s an approach that becomes vitally important when serving firefighters and police, who he says often span multiple faiths and even secular backgrounds. 

As Montreal still grapples with the shock and grief of the deaths of Benredouane and civilian victim Michel Mizrahi, Vadnais has been working behind the scenes with some of the most affected. 

“ I have gone with two members of the syndicate to meet 12 members who worked directly with Constable Benredouane to offer my services and my listening as they continue with psychological and personal training programs,” he said.  

“It's been very emotional and intense, especially when you see the vulnerability, but now to be able to express emotions and sentiments, it is a good thing. They are not RoboCops. I remind them that they are real human beings and that it is normal to have these feelings. ” 

Vadnais also underscores that even as the Montreal City Police Service continues to boast excellent internal support for officers struggling emotionally and psychologically, the importance of chaplaincy in adding the human and spiritual dimension cannot be overstated. 

Despite its profound impact in such moments of crisis, both Gibbs and Vadnais acknowledge that police chaplaincy remains largely unseen by the public. 

“ It's not as it sounds where most of it is ceremonial or you want somebody to come and bless a meal somewhere. It is about actually participating in the lives of young officers wherever you go, letting them know there's a space of spirituality and care for them with what they face every day,” Gibbs said.

“ I think it is more than 80 per cent of my calls and duty to serve is just to be listening,” Vadnais agreed. “That's the most important part of my work.” 

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Perhaps it is in those moments of unseen support, showing up for officers at midnight, being visible to families in hospital hallways and in each late-night call from officers, that the true heart of police chaplaincy lies.

“We are fortunate to have the opportunities  to develop these relationships over time, on ride-alongs, platoon meetings, in many ways. It is a reciprocation of our presence to them, but also for the officers having their own presence for us so that we can engage with them,” Gibbs said.