St. John Bosco Parish Pastor: Rev. André Grecki, SVD The Archdiocese of Toronto had established St. John Bosco Parish in 1960 to serve the growing number of immigrants from Italy. The new church and rectory were blessed in 1961. In 1995, the demographics of the parish began to change as Portuguese immigrants replaced Italians who were moving to the suburbs. St. John Bosco is now a Portuguese parish with small Italian-and English-speaking communities. Fr. Carlos Macatangga, who was ordained last year in the Chicago Province, and Fr. Andre Grecki, an SVD who had been working in Brazil, minister in the parish. The church is decorated with beautiful mosaics and stained glass windows. It is an amazing coincidence that a mosaic behind the pulpit reads: In principio erat Verbum! (In the beginning was the Word) The Chicago Province decided to staff this parish as part of its commitment to serve the immigrant Church, helping diverse communities preserve their heritage, language and customs. At St. John Bosco, daily and weekend liturgies are celebrated in three languages with ethnic festivities celebrated as customs dictate. We also work toward integrating the parishioners of this ethnically rich parish into the larger Church of the
Archdiocese of Toronto. Although each community has its own Mass, language, and customs, they are all encouraged to worship together as members of God’s family. Fr. Carlos and Fr. Andre are immigrants themselves: Fr. Carlos is from the Philippines and Fr. Andre was born in Poland. They model how people with different cultural heritages can live, work, and pray together.
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