St. Timothy Catholic Church

St. Timothy is Orangeville’s Roman Catholic parish, in the Archdiocese of Toronto. Its church stands on a triangular lot between Dawson Road and Centre Street, and the parish office is in the church vestibule. Fr. Donatello Iocco is the pastor.

The parish history traces Catholic worship in the area to the Mono Township farmhouse of Patrick Ryan, where visiting priests such as Father McSpiritt said Mass. By 1873 Orangeville was a mission served every second Sunday from Caledon, and St. Peter’s Church was built on John Street, facing the railway station: Archbishop Lynch of Toronto laid its cornerstone on 1 August 1875 and blessed it on 1 January 1876. Orangeville became a parish in its own right in 1885. As the congregation grew after the Second World War, land for a new church was bought in 1961, and construction to plans by the architect William Saccoccio began in August 1968. The new church opened in June 1969 and was blessed by Archbishop Philip Pocock on 24 August 1969; it took the name St. Timothy from a bequest by Sir Charles John Gillooly in memory of his father, and old St. Peter’s was sold. The pastor of the day, Father Edward J. Mahoney, put much thought into its modern design: the interior is laid out as a triangle to represent the three Persons of the Trinity, and the church was built to seat about 450.

Weekend Masses are on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday at 9:00 and 11:00 a.m., with weekday Masses on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at seven and on Thursday and Friday mornings. Confessions are heard on Thursday mornings and Saturday afternoons, and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for adoration on Thursdays until 1:00 p.m. Parish groups include the Catholic Women’s League, Knights of Columbus Council 8851, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, adult and youth choirs, and EDGE nights for students in Grades 6 to 8.

What Roman Catholics believe and how they worship