St. Joseph's Church stjosephschurch.ca Oakville, Ontario, Canada

1. St. Joseph’s
Information
Meeting

2. Opening Prayer Please observe the opening
prayer by: Father Fernando

3. Lunch will be Served
Following The Meeting!
All are Welcome

4. Bilingual
Attendance
• Because there are English and Portuguese
attendees in our audience, we will be
presenting in both Languages today.

5. Agenda
1. Where we were
2. Meeting with the Diocese
3. Where We Are Now
4. Future of Parish
5. Parish Financials

6. Where We Were

7. Scenario 1
 Our Church does
nothing
 The number of
parishioners
declines until
there is no
church
Scenario 2
 The Diocese moves
the remainder of
the Parish to St.
James
 We lose our identity
for ourselves our
community and our
kids
Past alternatives to our church
(These are no longer options)
 We build a
stronger
community of
Portuguese
people within the
existing parish
land
 A community
where the
parishioners can
walk to their
church
Scenario 3

8. Meeting With
The Diocese

9. Appeal To The Diocese
Petition with 423 Signatures To keep
Father Fernando
Video of Parishioners plea To keep
Father Fernando

11. Where We
Are Now

12. What Happened at the Diocese
Juvenalia Jesus
• Juve will give us a Portuguese
Version of what happened at the
Diocese.
Juliette Silva
• Juliette will give us an English
Version of what happened at the
Diocese.

13. Response Of
Diocese
• Their response:
•
They were impressed with the love and appreciation towards Fr. Pinto, BUT
• Canon Law stipulates that when a priest turns 75, they have to retire. They
mentioned that Fr. Pinto turned 75 in August 2022, and he had already extended his
stay and would already have been gone. Because new appointments are generally
announced on June 30th, the Diocese will let Fr. stay until then. Bishop Crosby added
that he, too, will have to retire next year, as he turns 75. Not his law, it’s Canon Law.
• They mentioned that in previous years, they contacted Portugal to try and have a
Priest come to the Diocese. They were told that there were no priests available and
the ones that were, were not suitable.
• We were told that there are plenty of English speaking priests available in the
Halton Region. They did not promise any priest, but would try and get one, even if
not born here, but able to speak and recite the Mass in English.
• They will let us know in writing, via mail, addressed to Fr. Pinto, who the next
priest would be coming to our Parish. Parishioners can also view on the Diocese’s
website, the Diocese’s new clergy appointments.
•
We were reassured that there were no intentions of building a new church as we
already have one. They also reassured us that the Diocese has no intention of closing
our Parish. They remarked quite emphatically, that
the Diocese does not close parishes;
parishioners are the ones who close parishes,
either because there is not enough attendance, either due to elderly passing on, or
not being able to financially maintain the parish.

14. Decisions of The Diocese
Father Fernando will be
retiring as the Head Parish
Priest (Whether Father
Fernando stays on as a Priest
will be up to the new Priest
and Father Fernando).
The New Priest for St.
Joseph’s Church will most
likely be an English Priest.

15. Future Projects of
Parish

16. Parish Growth Campaigns
Word of
Mouth – Invite
a Friend
Catholic
Resources
Youth
Initiatives
Revitalization
Projects
Community
Outreach
Programs
New
Parishioners
Drive
Parish
Feedback
Program

19. Partial List of
Movies and…
 Documentary – Dramas

20. Partial List of Kids
Movies and Shows

21. Programs on The Sacraments

22. Portuguese Programing

23. A Movie
About Fatima

24. Much More

25. Holy Spirit
• Duarte Benevides
• Will tell us what our
church will be doing for
Holy Spirit.

26. Espirito Santo-Holy Spirit
 Holy Spirit Crown (available for weekly
Parishioner Home Visits)
Schedule with Duarte
Tel. 289-885-3191
 50 th Anniversary Holy Spirit Book –
Under Development
 Our Largest Fund Raiser
 The Feast of The Holy Spirit
( Festa do Espirito Santo )
 Date: May 28th, 2023
 Spread The Word through Portuguese
Television, Multimedia, YouTube and
Facebook Advertising, Website, etc.
 Invite Your Friends To Attend

27. St. Joseph’s
Financials

28. Accounting
• Maria da Silva will tell us about
our current accounting situation
in the Parish.

29. One HEART
One SOUL

30. Reached
Our Goal!
Projects To Commence in 2023
Air Conditioning
Shrine of Fatima
Bell Tower
Additional Parish Funds

31. St. Joseph’s Church Expenses

32. Expenses

33. Revenue

34. Revenue

35. Balance Sheet

37. Lunch is Served
All are Welcome!

38. The End