St. Peter's Church is a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It is situated close to Bathurst Street in the

Mirvish Village Palmerston-Little Italy is a neighbourhood in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its boundaries, according to the City of Toronto, are by Bathurst Street to the east, Bloor Street to the north, Dovercourt Road to the west and College Street to th ...

area in

Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Stre ...

. Until June 2015, it was administered by the

Paulist Fathers The Paulist Fathers, officially named the Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle ( la, Societas Sacerdotum Missionariorum a Sancto Paulo Apostolo), abbreviated CSP, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men founded ...

and was their only presence in Canada. Since then, it has been administered by the

Archdiocese of Toronto The Archdiocese of Toronto ( la, Archidioecesis Torontina) is a Roman Catholic archdiocese that includes part of the Province of Ontario. Its archbishop is also the ecclesiastical provincial for the dioceses of Hamilton, London, Saint Catharines ...

History

The

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

was originally built in 1906-1907 and was designed by the architect Arthur W. Holmes. He worked on many of the churches in Toronto built around that time, such as the Church of the Holy Name,

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

and St. Patrick's Church.''Holmes, Arthur William'' i
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1800-1950
retrieved 4 February 2014 A Casavant Brothers' organ was installed in 1911; the opening concert was given Jan 12th, the organ played by F. A. Moure and the choir directed by A. Leitheuser. In 1914, the

Archbishop of Toronto The Archdiocese of Toronto ( la, Archidioecesis Torontina) is a Roman Catholic archdiocese that includes part of the Province of Ontario. Its archbishop is also the ecclesiastical provincial for the dioceses of Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, ...

Neil McNeil Neil McNeil (November 23, 1851 – May 25, 1934) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver from 1910 to 1912 and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto from 1912 to 1934. Early life McNeil was born in Hillsborough, Inverness County, Nov ...

invited the Paulist Fathers to the city to serve the

Newman Centre Newman Centers, Newman Houses, Newman Clubs, or Newman Communities are Catholic campus ministry centers at secular universities. The movement was inspired by the writings of Cardinal John Henry Newman encouraging societies for Catholic stude ...

in the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

(which they did until 1936) and the parish of St Peter's. By 1925, the present church was completed to accommodate the growing number of Catholics in the area. In 2011, the bell tower of the church needed renovation because it had become structurally unsafe. The parish raised $400,000 to restore it. In December, 2015, St. Peter's Church installed a lift system at its front entrance. This Garavanta Lift helped to make the church compliant with the

Ontarians with Disabilities Act The ''Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005'' (AODA) is a statute enacted in 2005 by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada. Its purpose is to improve accessibility standards for Ontarians with physical and mental disabil ...

Parish

The parish has four Sunday Masses every week, one at 5:00pm on Saturday evening, 9:00am, 11:15am on Sunday morning and 6:00 pm on Sunday evening. The current pastor is Father Michael McGourty. The archdiocese owns St. Peter's Parish Centre, at 840 Bathurst Street, which hosts various functions related to the parish and the Archdiocese.

References

External links

St. Peter's Church websitePaulist Fathers site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Church, Toronto Roman Catholic churches in Toronto 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Canada Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto Paulist Order Roman Catholic churches completed in 1925 1906 establishments in Ontario Christian organizations established in 1906