New home parish for Filipinos

New home parish for Filipinos

Our Lady of Assumption Church on 2565 Bathurst St., Toronto will be the new home parish for the Filipino Catholic Mission in the Archdiocese of Toronto.

For many years, the Filipino Mission or Chaplaincy was based in Blessed John XXIII Church in Gateway Blvd, Don Mills, Ontario.

Why Filipino Catholic Mission? There are several parishes in the Archdiocese of Toronto that are home churches for the different ethnic groups that comprise the Archdiocese, e.g. St Andrew Kim-Korean Mission, St. Cecilia Church -Vietnamese Mission, etc. These home parishes for the different missions have the task of opening venues for the unique but edifying liturgical celebrations of ethnic groups. The beautiful and powerful family ministries, youth programs and activities, renewal programs, are just some of the enriching ecclesiastical gatherings that multicultural groups bring to our parish life.

Our multicultural parishes create rainbow-like images of how we can collaborate and bring more vibrancy and color to our parish communities. Hence, as welcoming communities we help one another create opportunities for participation in the life of the Church.

His Grace, Archbishop Thomas Christopher Collins, had appointed Rev. Ben Prieto Ebcas, Jr., as the New Pastor of Our Lady of Assumption Church beginning August 20, 2008. Father Ebcas will also be the Mission Director/Chaplain for the Filipino Catholic Mission. Beginning August 31, 2008, there will be a Filipino (Tagalog) Mass at Assumption Church every Sunday at 5:00p.m.

We, therefore, invite all Filipino Catholics to participate, support and help enliven our parish community with your valuable presence. We thank Rev. Mark Villanueva for his untiring support for the Filipino Mission. We also congratulate him as the founding Pastor for the newly established parish of St. Josephine Bakhita in Mississauga, Ontario.

We are appealing to all Filipino groups, associations, organizations, guilds, etc. to please help in disseminating this information. May San Lorenzo Ruiz and Blessed Pedro Calungsod intercede for all our families here and back home. Mabuhay!

(PRESS RELEASE)