MEDIA ADVISORY
ATTENTION: Assignment/Photo Editors

Capacity Crowd of 1,300 Gather For Celebration of the Priesthood
17th Annual Ordinandi Dinner – March 6, 2007

WHAT: 17th Annual Ordinandi Dinner
WHEN: March 6, 2007
WHERE: Renaissance Parque Banquet Centre, 2800 Highway 7 West, Vaughan.

WHO: Five local Serra Clubs, part of Serra International, an organization promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life, welcome 1,300 guests including Archbishop Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, Bishop James Wingle, Bishop of St. Catharines and Bishops M. Pearse Lacey and Peter Hundt of Toronto.

On March 6, 2007, 1,300 people from across the Archdiocese of Toronto will gather at the Renaissance Parque in Vaughan to celebrate the latest seven candidates for the priesthood studying in Toronto and to hear the stories of their personal journeys. Also being honoured will be 20 Toronto-area clergy celebrating 50 years of priesthood. The 17 th Ordinandi Dinner, sold out once again this year, is one of the largest annual gatherings of Catholics across the Archdiocese of Toronto.

The dinner is sponsored and organized by five local Serra Clubs, which work to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Serra International membership comprises more than 22,000 men and women in 37 countries who belong to over 700 Serra Clubs, including 13 chapters in Canada.

Currently there are more than 70 men at various stages of preparation for the priesthood at St. Augustine’s Seminary and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Toronto. Candidates undergo extensive spiritual formation, theological education and practical field training. On May 12, 2007, six men will be ordained to serve as priests for the Archdiocese of Toronto.

-30-

Media Contact:
Kristen Crawford – Office of Public Relations & Communications Archdiocese of Toronto
Phone (416) 934-3400 x 563 kcrawford@archtoronto.org