One year ago...

One year ago today, the announcement came that the Toronto Apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter had come to an end. It as the First Sunday of Lent, 2010. Since that time, the Archbishop of Toronto appointed a diocesan priest to celebrate the traditional Latin liturgy at St. Theresa's Church in Scarborough in addition to his other parish duties as Associate Pastor at large and demanding parish north of Toronto. The Mass is no longer a Missa Cantata and attendance has dropped as well since the departure of the FSSP with no signs of growth to be had. The location remains a problem, little transit, not much parking and the time of day at 1:00 is still problematic.
On the positive side, the traditional Mass continues to grow, albeit slowly at St. Vincent de Paul under the Fathers of the Oratory and the Toronto Traditional Mass Society, soon to be known as Una Voce Toronto, has a new Board and is planning more regular programs and opportunities to move the agenda forward.
In my own opinion, the Fraternity will come back to Toronto some day, but on their terms. That would be no more bouncing from one parish to another and one rectory to another. They must have their own parish and rectory to develop live their charism and serve the people desiring to worship and live the Catholic culture in accord with the traditional liturgy and fully united to the Holy Father.
That day will come when the inevitable closing of parishes occurs, particularly in east Toronto where many struggle to survive amidst changing demographics and immigration patterns and general apostasy of Catholics from the faith.

Originally posted on February 21, 2010.

 TORONTO--Only three weeks after a Solemn High Mass was held on Candlemas assisted by transitional Deacons and Seminarians of St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto; and less than a week after a column appeared on Rorate Caeli Blog extolling the provisioning of the Traditional Latin Mass in Ontario, it was announced today after the Mass for Quadragesima Sunday that effective next Sunday, February 28, 2010, the Toronto Apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter will come to an end.

Apostolate Chaplain, Father Howard Venette, FSSP addressed the nearly 100 congregants following the Mass advising the shocked congregation that the departure was due to "internal personnel" matters. Father Venette will be reassigned to Orlando, Florida following his 19 month stay in Toronto.

The FSSP was invited to Toronto by Archbishop Thomas Collins with the hopes of establishing a personal parish for the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. In September 2009, a public announcement was made by the Fraternity and on the Archdiocese of Toronto web page that Canadian Martyrs parish would be the location over a six-month transitional period. Within days of this announcement and without public explanation, the situation changed and the parish plan did not materialise.
Recently, the Fraternity was advised that while a parish was not currently available, its provision would depend on the continued growth and financial viability of the community. In the last 19 months, attendance at the Sunday Mass at St. Theresa Shrine Church increased over 100% from the attendance under the former indult at the Missa Lecta to the Missa Cantata.

Upon arrival in Toronto, Father Venette was in residence at Holy Cross parish where the Mass was celebrated daily and on High Holy Days. Following the situation in September over Canadian Martyrs, Father was moved to St. Brigid's where the daily Mass schedule changed from week to week and the High Holy Day liturgies were split between St. Brigid's and St. Theresa's Parish.
According to officials from Una Voce Toronto, Archbishop Collins had indicated that he desired no less than "five" Extraordinary Form Masses throughout the Archdiocese of Toronto every Sunday.