Walk through just about any town in Europe and you’ll find that the largest structure is a church. That was certainly my experience in my recent 1,000-kilometre walk along the Camino de Santiago in Spain. From solid, fortress-like Romanesque churches to the lacy, heaven-pointing spires of Gothic architecture, towns large and small were built around attempts to glorify God and inspire the faithful.

It seems to be a ‘throwback’ in a world where the largest buildings have long been celebrations or glorifications of corporate success—such as First Canadian Place, TD Centre, and the CN Tower — or, more recently, of personal success— witness the towering condo buildings where status climbs with each floor and square foot added.

But far from being erased, the older tradition has been going through a bit of a renaissance, in large part due to the waves of immigration that continue to enrich and grow our society.

We are all beneficiaries. For instance, no one who visits or even passes by the glorious marvel of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir built by our growing Hindu community near Highway 427 and Finch Avenue West can’t help but be impressed by the beauty and the faith that inspired it.

Don Mills will be the home of two new jewels—the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum—inspired by the Ismaili interpretation of Islam and the desire to share and bridge religious understandings.

But perhaps the most touching example is to be found in a small industrial-commercial zone northwest of Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue West. It is not the largest construction project in Toronto, but neither is it the smallest. While many remain transfixed by the soaring concrete and glass of the new Four Seasons Hotel or the Trump Tower, hundreds of eyes are glued to the crane that rises majestically amidst a series of factories and warehouses. More importantly, hundreds upon hundreds of hearts beat with more pride and anticipation as each new stage of the development is completed.

This development has been decades in the making. Since 1984, the congregation of St. Mary’s Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has dreamed of building a cathedral to house their growing numbers. Though not as large as the Hindu community, nor as affluent as the Ismaili community has become, this community has pursued its dream with vigour and devotion.

For the last decade, the faithful have come to the converted factory at 80 and 84 Tycos Dr. to worship. If you didn’t see the sign outside or the modest cross above the building, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from its neighbours and would drive right past. Inside, florescent lamps left over from the days when widgets were produced here still light the way. A few chandeliers purchased from a nearby lighting factory outlet hang from the exposed steel beams and ductwork. What may have once been a utility closet or storage room area is now the Holy of Holies.

There is nothing “converted” about the faith and passion that fills each service, however. While much of the service is in Ge’ez or Amharic (which sadly I don’t understand at all), there is no mistaking the spirit that moves and brings joy to the congregation. Nonetheless, the community is excited and proud of the construction of a purpose-built cathedral.

My friend, Samuel Getachew, first introduced me to St. Mary’s during the municipal elections. Born in Addis Ababa and arrived as a child in Canada via Zambia, he was running for council in Ward 43 in Scarborough. He still often makes the trip to Tycos to worship. His eyes lit up with pride as he described how after so many years, the Ethiopian community had grown to the stage where it could begin to build such a structure that will be able to hold up to 900 worshippers. At the time, ground had not yet been broken on the project, but the months that followed have been flurry of activity.

The story is one that has repeated itself often with every wave of immigration that has come to Toronto. For the first twenty years of its existence, for example, a different congregation met in a rented room over Coombe’s Drugstore on the south-east corner of Yonge Street and Richmond Street West. Today, that congregation meets in the gorgeous Holy Blossom Temple on Bathurst Street.

As communities grow, so does the need for and desire to build larger, more awe-inspiring places to worship, signalling ‘concretely’ the deepening of roots in their new home.

St. Mary’s Cathedral on Tycos Drive won’t be as big physically as some of the cathedrals that anchored and inspired communities across Europe, but for its congregation and all those who will have the pleasure to pass by and/or visit the completed building, it will be a joy and inspiration to behold.

A businessman and former CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Rocco Rossi recently returned from his fourth pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/new-cathedral-signals-growth-of-torontos-ethiopian-community/article2283259/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+News%29