Special Collection for Catholic Missions in Canada and Canadian Missions
This coming Sunday, August 13 there is a Special Collection called Catholic Missions in Canada and Canadian Missions.
This special collection has always taken place in August of each year and was distributed to Catholic Missions in Canada and the Scarboro Foreign Missions Society for their mission work. But in the past year there has been a very significant change of which you need to be aware.
Because of the age and shrinking number of their priests, the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society, which has always been located in this Archdiocese in the east end of Scarborough, will be closing. In dialogue with the Society, they have indicated they no longer require funds from this August collection and have encouraged its redistribution to needy partners.
In mid-2016, it became known to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops that the status of several of our country’s northern dioceses was being changed by the Vatican from that of “missionary diocese” status to “regular diocese” status. Accompanying the change would be the loss of the subsidy to the northern dioceses from the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
In September of 2016, at the annual meeting of the Canadian Catholic Bishops the proposal was made that, where possible, the southern dioceses of Canada assist the northern dioceses, not only to compensate for their financial loss, but also to help them rise out of their poverty.
In this context, the Archdiocese of Toronto has now become responsible for supporting two of our remote dioceses in Northern Canada, namely, the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith in Yellowknife, NWT which is about 400 km south of the Artic Circle as well as the Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan in Grand Prairie, AB.
In light of this, and in keeping with the spirit of our annual Mission collection in August, the Archdiocese of Toronto has decided to re-allocate the Scarboro Foreign Mission portion of the collection towards these two dioceses.
Half of the total proceeds of the second collection next week will go towards supporting these two dioceses; the other half will continue to go towards Catholic Missions in Canada which fosters and extends the Catholic faith by supporting many missions in several regions of our country where the population is too small, or the economic situation of the community is too fragile for the people themselves to support their local Church and its ministry.
Please use the envelopes that you will find in your regular box of envelopes or in the special collection box for those of you who are on Pre-Authorized Giving.
If you do not have envelopes, there are envelopes on the tables at the back of the church for this collection.
As you think about what you can contribute in this collection please be mindful of how financially fragile some of these Catholic communities are in our country and how much they need not just the financial support but also the moral support our financial aid can give them.
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OLPH PARISH PILGRIMAGE
UPDATE: We now have a sufficient number of parishioners signed up to ensure the rental of the Coach bus for the pilgrimage on September 9. For this reason, the registration deadline has been EXTENDED to August 28, 2017.
Come join Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish as we go on a pilgrimage to Martyr's Shrine in Midland, ON -- the National Shrine to the Canadian Martyrs. This holy and historic site honours the eight Jesuit Saints who lived, worked, and died here over 350 years ago. Celebrate your faith with hundreds of other Catholics during this 175th Anniversary of the Archdiocese of Toronto. The celebrations will include time for prayer, pilgrimage to holy sites on location, Mass with Cardinal Thomas Collins, and personal time to enjoy the Shrine grounds.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Cost of Coach Bus: $30 (non-refundable)
Lower rate for family sign-ups. $30 for first adult; $15 for subsequent adults in same family and $5 for children in family
Bus will depart Our Lady of Perpetual Help at 8:00 a.m. and leave the Shrine Grounds toward Toronto at 5:30 p.m.
Please bring your own lunch
Spaces on the bus are limited!
Deadline extended to August 28, 2017.
Contact the parish office to register at 416-489-1540 ext. 221 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Exciting News! Coming Soon in October…
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish is starting a Mothers Group!
Do you want to be refreshed? Inspired? Meet other Catholic moms? Then keep an eye out for our Mothers Group to come.
Our Mother’s Group will meet once a month on Thursday mornings starting in October.
For more information, visit www.CatholicMomsGroup.com
If you have any questions, please contact Alison Endrizzi at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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At the first opportunity after the two Iraqi refugees arrived at Pearson Airport on Jan. 31, 2017, they were welcomed by many parishioners after the Feb. 5th's 9:30 mass. The brother-sister family, Fadi and Mallak were joined by their relatives living in Brampton.
Many pictures are posted on the Homepage Slider-photos as well as under the Picture Gallery (under Gallery in the Top Navigation Menu) - http://www.olphtoronto.com/gallery/picture-gallery/2013-onto/2016.html
There are two events with the Refugees so far - their arrival at the Airport and the Welcoming by Parishioners, They are naturally in 2017 but they are temporarily posted in the "Main Events of 2016-2017".
If you find any captions are incorrect or can be improved, please let the OLPH webmaster (Roy - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) know about them
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Good news after a long wait for them and for us!
We have learned that our family of two has been cleared to travel from Amman, Jordan, to Toronto this month. The simple iPhone message from Fadi belied the years of anxiety he and his sister (Iraqi Christians) have faced -- first fleeing ISIS from their home in Iraq, then dealing with two years of uncertain days in Amman. As he put it stoically "I just received a call from the embassy that our travel to Canada will be on January 31 and they'll tell us the details of the flight later. See you soon."
The joy we feel is tempered by some anxiety about the task ahead. Our top priority is to find an apartment that Fadi and his sister can afford when our funding support ends after one year. If anyone has any leads, quickly contact Henry Miller (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 416-932-8420). We are partial to areas like Fairview Mall area where there is a large Arab-speaking community, good community services in Arabic for newcomers and a number of agencies who can be helpful.
We will have a number of welcoming tasks, especially in the first two weeks, ranging from touring the city and registering for government services to helping them find work. If you are interested in helping, please contact Mia Toth (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Jamie McGrath (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Appropriately, we received Fadi's email this past Sunday, the Church's “World Day of Migrants and Refugees”..
Larry Pick, Co-chair of OLPH Refugee Committee
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Many 2016 pictures have been posted in the "Picture Gallery" under the "Gallery" Top Nav menu. However, due to some technical issue, they were posted under the Year 2015. This has been resolved and the 2016 gallery is now updated on its own.
These include the following area:
- renovations in the church, including large scaffolding
- some Holy Week service
- Confirmation and First Communion
- OLPH School students & families.
If you find any captions to be incorrect or needs improvement, please contact the webmaster.
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