MEDIA ADVISORY
ATTENTION: Assignment/Photo Editors

Capacity Crowd of 1,200 Gather For Celebration of the Priesthood
18th Annual Ordinandi Dinner - Men of the Eucharist - March 4, 2008

WHAT: 18th Annual Ordinandi Dinner.

WHEN: March 4, 2008.

WHERE: Riviera Parque Dining, Banquet and Convention Centre, 2800 Highway 7 West, Concord.

WHO: Five local Serra Clubs, part of Serra International, an organization promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life, welcome 1,200 guests including His Grace, Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, His Excellency, James Wingle, Bishop of St. Catharines and His Excellency, Peter Hundt, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto. Also present will be the Rectors of St. Augustine’s and Redemptoris Mater Seminaries and as well as parishioners from across the Archdiocese.

On March 4, 2008, 1,200 people will gather at the Riviera Parque in Concord to celebrate the latest eleven candidates for the priesthood studying in Toronto and to hear the stories of their personal journey to priesthood. The 2008 dinner theme, Men of the Eucharist, calls to mind the global invitation to the 49 th Annual Eucharistic Congress being held in Quebec in June 2008. The dinner will also honour 19 Toronto-area clergy who are celebrating 50 years of priesthood. The 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 that 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 14 chapters in Canada. Serra continues to grow in Ontario with new clubs in formation in the Simcoe and St. Catharines regions.

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 10, 2008, seven of these men will be ordained to serve as priests for the Archdiocese of Toronto.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

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

March 4, 2008
> 5:30 p.m. Reception > 7:00 p.m. Dinner