It was a long cherished dream of the Latin Catholics living in Toronto, to have a Holy mass in Malayalam. August 20, 2011 was a historic moment, while a Malayalam Mass in the Latin Rite was celebrated at St. Norbert Church by three priests Rev. Benedict Plavila from New York, Rev. Jossy Mullassery OFM from Montreal and Fr. Kulakkayathil from Kollam, Kerala. It was a great success. A coordination c
ommittee was formed to mobilize the community and enable them to participate in the Holy Mass. The community gathered under the banner of "Kerala Roman Latin Catholic Canadian Community." His Excellency McGatten, the Auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto, granted permission to celebrate Holy Mass in Malayalam on every first Sunday of the month. Since the participation of the community at the Holy Mass was so successful that permission was granted to have a permanent priest from Kerala. In January 2014 Fr.Stephen Gilbert Kulakkayathil from the diocese of Quilon was appointed as the Pastor in charge of the Latin Catholic Community in Toronto. Establishment of the Chaplaincy: It was a milestone that the Archdiocese of Toronto established a Chaplaincy for the Latin Catholics of Kerala living in Toronto, under the name "SACRED HEART KERALA ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY". We have been raised to Chaplaincy from a language group. Cardinal Thomas Collins established the Chaplaincy on 15th August 2015. The Chaplaincy has given us the privilege of having a new name, Finance Council, Pastoral Council, a bank account and charitable status for the Chaplaincy. The Mass to mark the official inauguration of the Chaplaincy was celebrated by Rev. Ivan Camilleri the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Toronto on 1st November 2015. Kulakkayathil was appointed as the first Chaplain of the community. Jose Valiaparambil took charge as the Parish council secretary and Mr. Anjalose Varghese as the Vice chairman of the Finance council. We have Holy Mass on every Sunday at 3:30pm at St. Bernard de Clairvaux Catholic Church. We celebrate Christmas, Onam and other special occasions to strengthen our community. We are very grateful to God, Cardinal Thomas Collins, Msgr. Thomas Kalarathil and other officials of the Archdiocese for the elevation of our community from a language group to Chaplaincy.
