On September 18, 1978 Cardinal Carter, as the newly appointed Archbishop of Toronto, established his first parish in the Archdiocese. It was named Saints Peter and Paul Parish with Fr. George Pfliger appointed Pastor. The first Mass was celebrated at Metropolitan Andrei School and beginning October 7th the Masses were celebrated at Canadian Martyrs School until the church was complete.

The first year was busy and very exciting as many parishioners volunteered for the various ministries, committees and groups, which were an integral part of parish life and community. People were anxious to meet their new parishioners and eager to establish a new and vibrant community under the direction of Fr. George. Within that year many new homes were built with many new families joining the parish. It was obvious that Fr. George needed assistance, so on August 1, 1979 Sister Deanna MacDougall, S.C. was hired as a Pastoral Assistant and on Sept. 3, 1979, Fr. Christopher Paventi was appointed first Associate Pastor in the Parish. With the arrival of Fr. Christopher the number of Parish Masses increased to six including one Italian Mass at 9 am. on Sunday. We now have two Italian Masses each week. On January 1, 1980 Gloria Hurst became the first secretary and on January 7, 1980 Brother Leo, a deacon, joined the staff. He was ordained as Fr. Jim De Rasmo on May 11, 1981.

During the first few years’ members of the Building Committee and the Finance Committee worked diligently with the Parish Team so that the church could be built as soon as possible. On March 7, 1982 a groundbreaking ceremony was held and the construction began. On Saturday, October 23, 1982 Fr. George celebrated the first Mass in our new Church at 9:00 am with a large number of parishioners attending this very joyous occasion.

The architects decided on a Hogan style structure for our Church. “Hogan” is a Navaho word translating roughly into “home place”. Hogan is normally round or octagonal with a domed roof with a smoke hole at the top and an east-facing door. The dome roof is reflective of the sacred sky and the east-facing door is to welcome in the first rays of the rising sun each morning. Father George, with the assistance of the Building Committee, was seeking to make our church a unique one. In keeping with the simplicity of the building they wanted the interior of the church to be reflective of the outer structure. For this reason they commissioned Derek Green, a sculptor from Tottenham, Ont. to fashion and carve from Southern Ontario granite an image of the Risen Christ and the fourteen Stations of the Cross. As in all art forms the beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

To many the simple lines of the sculpture of the Risen Christ speak volumes and the absence of details allows each of us to focus on the symbolic significance of this inspired work. With the simplicity of his work Derek Green has dramatically depicted how Christ’s humanity was broken and His dignity shattered as He hung on the cross like a common criminal, how He died for our sins and how His relationship with His disciples was broken but not terminated. Against this background of brokenness and death, Jesus is risen and glorious, our Redeemer and Savior.

The paintings depicting some of the events in the lives of our patrons, St. Peter and St. Paul, were done by Fr. Patrick J. McCarroll, a good friend of Fr. George’s. In July 1988 he died tragically as the result of a streetcar accident so the paintings in our church represent a memorial to Fr. McCarroll’s two great passions of religion and art.

St. Peter

St. Paul