Toronto Mission Elevated as a Parish

The St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Mission of Toronto is elevated as a Parish in the St. Mary, Queen of Peace Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy in the USA and Canada. On February 26, during the celebration of the Holy Mass, Rev. Father Gigi Philip read out the decree of His Excellency the Most Rev. Dr. Thomas Mar Eusebius, elevating the mission to the status of a parish. Reverend Gigi Philip, the first pastor of the parish, then handed over the decree to Mr. Mathew Kuthiravattom and Mr. Babu Mamoottil, the secretary and the treasurer of the parish respectively. The parishioners received the new canonical status of the community with laud applause. During the Holy Mass, Reverend Msgr. Thomas Kalarathil, the Director of Priests’ Personnel in the Archdiocese of Toronto gave the homily. Msgr. Kalarathil remarked that the elevation of the Toronto Mission to a parish reflects the pace and dimension of the growth that the Syro-Malankara Catholic community of Toronto achieved in the past couple of decades. This is the first Syro-Malankara Catholic community in Canada to be elevated as a parish. The founding vicar of the mission was Reverend Msgr. Peter Kochery, the present Vicar General of the Eparchy. After him, Reverend Fathers Antony Chethipuzha, Cheriyan Mambrakuzhy and John Kuriakose served this community. Our parish in Toronto remains deeply indebted to the Archdiocese of Toronto for the valuable support and patronage that has been extended to us all these years. Besides Rev. Father Abraham Lukose, the Associate Pastor of the parish, there were twelve other priests present in the church in order to witness this joyous moment of the community, including Rev. Fr. Thomas Ayyaneth, the Rector of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Cathedral in New York and the secretary to His Excellency Mar Eusebius. The program was concluded with agape. Hearty congratulation to Rev. Fr. Gigi Philip, Rev. Father Abraham Lukose and the community.