POPE BENEDICT XVI 2005 –

Pope Benedict XVI formally began his stewardship of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, April 24, 2005 at an installation mass before hundreds of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square.

The former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger said in his homily: "My real program of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by Him so that He himself will lead the church at this hour of our history."

The first German to be elected since Victor II (1055-1057) was born April 16, 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany. Elected pope on Tuesday, April 19, 2005, he adopted the name Benedict XVI and at 78, is the oldest pope elected in 275 years.

He served as one of John Paul II's closest aides, appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981 and elected Dean of the College of Cardinals in 2002.

Development of the interior of Holy Spirit Church continued throughout the summer.

The Timothy Schmalz statue "Our Lady of Guadalupe" was placed on the right-hand altar pedestal replacing "Maternal Bond."

The popular Schmalz statue"Whatsoever you do" remained at the front of the altar.

Another new Schmalz statue "John the Baptist" was placed on a wooden pedestal on the left-hand side of the altar near the baptismal font. The pedestal matches the one on the right-hand side of the altar where "Our Lady of Quadalupe" is situated.

Changes were made to the plot of land to the right of the main doors at the front of the church on Sheppard Avenue. The old cross and the deteriorated statue "Spouse of the Holy Spirit" was removed and the land graded.

A new exterior bronze sculpture called "Stone Corpus" was created by Schmalz.

The cross was installed on a round, two-tiered, stone pedestal.

Landscaping on that area and necessary construction both on the foundation and roof continued at the front and sides of the church.

A successful Christmas Concert was held on the evening of Dec. 3 in the Church as the first step toward purchasing a new organ.

The outstanding talent of our own gifted musicians: Adam Bernardini, Lisa Di Maria and Andrew Kwong with the addition of their talented friends Mia Bach, Vincent Cheng and Erin Crooks, made it an event to be fondly remembered.

Included in the program were classic favourites from Beethoven, Chopin, Puccini and Rossini as well as treasured carols and a delightful Christmas medley. The acoustics of the church were especially pleasing and re-enforced the organ replacement decision.

Father Tom expressed his thanks and that of the congregation for this generous support for the fund-raising effort. No one who attended this musical celebration doubted the project could have had a better initiation.