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Service
Services will be held at St. Paul's Basilica at 2 p.m. November 4th, 2005.
St. Paul's Basilica Toronto's Oldest Catholic Parish
Established in 1822, St. Paul's is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Toronto. After the Diocese was created in 1841, Bishop Michael Power used St. Paul's as his unofficial Cathedral until the completion of the construction of St. Michael's Cathedral in 1848.
In 1998, Fr. Tom Day began the process of restoring the church to its original splendour. Beginning in July of 2000, the present Pastor, Msgr. Brad Massman oversaw the complete restoration of the exterior and interior of the church in collaboration with the architect Charles Hazell.
On August 3, 1999, Pope John Paul II elevated St. Paul's to the rank of Minor Basilica by an Apostolic Decree. To be given this Papal honour, a church must be a centre of liturgical and pastoral life in the Diocese and renowned for its antiquity beauty, canonical significance of devotional popularity. Minor Basilicas receive special concessions such as the privilege of granting plenary indulgence on certain days in a year. The insignia of a Minor Basilica include the Ombrellino or Pavilion (a red and yellow umbrella) and the Tintinnabulum (a bell attached to a special belfry and a baton). St. Paul's is the first and only one in Toronto and the twentieth church in Canada to receive this honorific title.
Dean John Lawrence Hand was appointed Pastor of St. Paul's in 1892 and served to 1936. If Connolly designed St. Paul's and Bishop O'Mahony built it, Dean Hand completed the church and made it the work of beauty one sees today. He was responsible for commissioning most of the artwork inside St. Paul's.
The all-wood organ was installed in 1898 by R.S. Williams & Son, Toronto, and is the only one of its kind in North America.
St. Paul's Basilica
83 Power Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 3A8
Canada
From the West: QEW East to Gardener Expressway, exit at Jarvis St., turn Left (North) to Lower Jarvis St., turn right (East) onto King St. E., turn left (North) onto Power Street to the church on your right.
From the North: Don Valley south, exit at Richmond St., (keep right to stay on Richmond St.), turn right (North) onto Power Street to the church on your right.
VISIT: Google Map & Directions
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