St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church (Ajax, Ontario)

St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church
Location	1001 Ravenscroft Road, Ajax, Ontario
Denomination	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto

St. Francis de Sales Church is a Roman Catholic church located in Ajax, Ontario. The original church was erected in 1871, but was closed in 1999 due to an overflow of parishioners. A new building was opened on 30 July 2006.

Pre-World War I

Prior to the building of a church to service the Catholic community of Pickering, parishioners journeyed to either St. Paul's in Toronto or to St. Gregory's in Oshawa. In 1847, the first church was erected in Pickering near Highway 2 (now Durham Highway 2/Kingston Road). It was called St. Wilfrid's, and relied on visiting priests. The first resident priest of the area was Fr. Peter D. Laurent, who served from 1860-61. By 1870, the tiny Pickering church of St. Wilfrid's became too small for the burgeoning Catholic population, and so, under the guidance of Fr. Hayden, the fifth pastor, the parish banded together to build a new church, named St. Francis de Sales. It was completed in 1871.

Post-World War I to 2006

St. Francis remained a parish with a resident pastor until 1915, when the community became a mission parish to St. John's of Whitby. In 1942, St. Francis once again became a parish, with a resident pastor, Fr. Bernard Kyte, the fifteenth pastor. It was under his leadership that the Stations of the Cross were set up and blessed in the church. In 1951, the church's Catholic Women's League was started, and continues to run to this day. St. Francis de Sales school opened in 1952. By the time the 18th pastor, Fr. Arthur McMahon, the church was in a state of disrepair: the roof was sagging, and the top of the building was leaning out. The parish discussed the possibility of demolishing the deteriorating building, or fixing it up. It was concluded that the church still had life left in it, so the decision was made to add steel reinforcements. In 1965, Fr. Walter Forgach became the 20th pastor. It was his task to lead the congregation through the changes of the Second Vatican Council. It was Fr. Forgach, who in 1965, installed the automatic chimes that can be heard all across Pickering Village to this day. He also helped to construct the rectory used today. The Knights of Columbus, and the parish's own St. Vincent de Paul Society were established in 1970 and 1972 respectively. In 1980, Fr. John T. Bolger arrived. He was pastor #22, and served for seventeen years. The building slowly continued to deteriorate, and more reinforcements were added to keep the walls from falling out.

A New Era

In 1999, under Fr. Roy Roberts' leadership, the first steps were taken to raise money and build a new church. The ground finally broke in September 2005, and was opened on 30 July 2006.

External links

• St. Francis De Sales Roman Catholic Church

See also

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto