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Bel Air Lumber sponsors Padre Pio Parish in Vaughan

Bel Air Lumber Inc. sponsers the new Padre Pio parish

Vaughan

Oct 03, 2007 10:01 PM

Kleinburg home to first church of its kind in North America
By: David Fleischer

After five years of work, the ground has been broken on St. Padre Pio, a new, landmark church in Kleinburg.

It is the first church in North America to honour St. Padre Pio, an Italian priest who received the stigmata — physical manifestations of the five wounds of Jesus Christ — in 1918. They would stay with him until he died in 1968.

“It’s going to be a beautiful, beautiful building,” fundraising chairman Ben Virgilio said of the basilica-style church.

Construction is slated to begin next spring, with an opening planned by Christmas 2009.

About 1,000 parishioners attended services at nearby St. Andrew’s Catholic Elementary School while awaiting a church of their own.

On the day he was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002, the same year World Youth Day was held in Toronto, the Parish of St. Padre Pio was established in Kleinburg. That youth event’s cross was brought to the site.

“Today is indeed a day of celebration and joy, but we have a long way to go. Faith, perseverance and a united community has led us to this important milestone in the pilgrimage towards our new church,” Father Gregory Ace said at the groundbreaking ceremony last month.

The building, sitting on 6.4 acres at the north-west corner of Islington Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive, will feature a 200-seat amphitheatre and also provide a home for the parish’s holy relic, St. Padre Pio’s right-hand glove.

The first phase of the church itself requires $11 million, of which $6.2 million has already been donated in cash and in-kind services. Two additional phases will see the construction of a finished basement and a parish house. Fundraising is going well, Mr. Virgilio said.

The parish contains numerous ministries, including a Catholic Women’s League and Knights of Columbus.

For more information visit http://www.stpadrepiochurch.org/