Father Michael McGourty, who has been pastor of St. Peter’s Church since the departure of the Paulist Fathers in 2015, has asked for and been generously granted a sabbatical by Cardinal Frank Leo, Archbishop of Toronto. Fr. McGourty will leave St. Peter’s on June 25th, 2026.
Father Michael Hughes, has been named pastor of St. Peter’s Church by Cardinal Leo and will begin his term on June 25th, 2026.
Please pray for all of the priests of the Archdiocese who will begin a new assignment on June 25th, 2026 and all involved in this time of transition.
In uncertain times, fear is something with which we are all familiar. After the death of Jesus, His disciples ran away fearful of what the future might mean without Him. As we see war raging in many parts of the world, and hear of political leaders uttering threats to once friendly countries around the world, and economic uncertainty looms on the horizon, fear threatens to over-take all of our lives. 
Jerusalem is, and has been for several millennium, a great walled city that must be entered through one of the several gates in the city’s wall. It is a holy and sacred city. For the Jews, Jerusalem is that city where God dwelt among His people in the great temple at which they could visit Him and offer Him sacrifices. In His Holy City, God would listen to His people and they could be assured that they were standing in His presence. Whenever there was a great feast for the Jewish people they would go up to the city of Jerusalem to be near to God and celebrate with Him. For the Jewish people to live within the walls of Jerusalem—the Holy City—was the perfect life; it was equivalent to living with God on earth. In the mind of the Jewish person, the perfect place to die was within the walls of Jerusalem. To die within the walls of the Holy City meant that one had died with God in His Holy City and had indeed lived a blessed life.