Inside the sealed envelope, the instructions from the mystery donor were clear.

TORONTO – A plan to start interring cremated remains in the crypts beneath the renovated St. Michael’s Cathedral is on hold as the Archdiocese of Toronto sorts through a host of issues.

Providence Healthcare’s new $4.5 million palliative care wing features no state-of-the-art technology, no breakthrough innovations, no dazzling science. The money went into providing peace, quiet and the human touches that make life worth living.

EDMONTON – When Fr. Robert Kasun learned that Pope Francis wanted him to become a bishop, one of his first reactions was, “I’ve never in my life done anything extraordinary. I’m just an ordinary simple pastor.”

TORONTO – Bishop Robert Kasun has been to Rome to buy a pectoral cross, mitre, ring — all the gear you need to be a bishop. But Kasun, ordained on Sept. 12 in Edmonton to serve as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Toronto, didn’t really have time — and he was a bit put off by the prices — to pick up a new crozier.

On June 17, we Basilians learned that one of our brothers, Fr. Robert Kasun, would become one of the four auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Toronto. Fr. Bob is not the first Basilian bishop of Toronto. Denis O’Connor served as archbishop from 1899-1908.

“This is holy ground,” Cardinal Thomas Collins declared as he rededicated St. Michael’s Cathedral, capping off a five-year, $128 million restoration of the 168-year-old home of Toronto’s Catholics.

TORONTO – After six years under construction, St. Michael's Cathedral is once again ready to welcome its flock on a daily basis.

When he received an unexpected call in June and learned Pope Francis planned to make him a bishop, Fr. Robert Kasun figured someone had made a big mistake. Those doubts endured right up to his Sept. 12 ordination in Edmonton.

TORONTO – Seeking to build for a stronger sense of community, Fr. Keith Wallace took his parishioners on a Holy Door pilgrimage around the Archdiocese of Toronto.

TORONTO – Following a six-year, $128-million renovation St. Michael’s Cathedral is finally ready to open its doors, rededicate its altar and give thanks to God for its new life in the heart of Toronto.

My Dear Friends,

In the mid 1840s, Michael Power, the first bishop of Toronto, identified the need to construct a cathedral for his new diocese, in which at that time there were only 3,000 parishioners in the City of Toronto itself, and not many more beyond it. Bishop Power’s vision, one that he would not live to see fulfilled, was to pray, to serve and to evangelize throughout the vast region entrusted to his care. Before the cathedral was completed, however, he gave his life in caring for the sick Irish immigrants who came to Toronto in 1847.

The tradition of caring for the spiritual and pastoral needs of our community has continued in the Archdiocese of Toronto, following the example of Bishop Power. Since 1848, St. Michael’s Cathedral has served as the mother church of our archdiocese, now a community of about two million faithful. It is also both a parish church and a destination for pilgrims and tourists alike, with hundreds of thousands visiting the cathedral annually. Over the past several years, the church has undergone a significant restoration to return it to its original beauty, to expand its seating capacity and to preserve it so that it may be a beacon of faith, hope and love for generations to come.

Our cathedral connects every Catholic in the archdiocese, and gathers every pastoral and apostolic work under the heavenly patronage of our great defender in the struggle of life, the archangel Michael. We all need his intercession and protection more than ever.

In the pages that follow, you will learn more about the cathedral, its history and restoration. It is a powerful story of sacrifice, commitment and fidelity. To all those who have contributed to the restoration efforts through their labour, prayers and financial support, be assured of my profound gratitude.

It is my prayer that every Catholic family in the Archdiocese of Toronto take the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to St. Michael’s Cathedral: to pray, to deepen their faith, and to be inspired to witness to Christ Our Lord, in the spirit of those who have gone before us.

We pray that the cathedral will serve as a beautiful sign of God’s presence, a gathering place where the faithful, visitors and community at large are welcomed to enter and to be touched by the sacred, echoing the meaning of the name St. Michael: “Who is like God.” May the physical restoration of the cathedral become the foundation for our own spiritual revitalization.

St. Michael, patron of the Archdiocese of Toronto, pray for us!

Sincerely in Christ,

Thomas Collins
Archbishop of Toronto

There were times when Fr. Michael Busch feared for St. Michael’s Cathedral. For a few days in June 2015, the rector had to wonder whether the whole thing was about to fall down on top of him.

Toronto is not the new Jerusalem. It is, perhaps, one of the most secular cities in the world.

Renowned 19th-century novelist Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote that “mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral.”