NO CHRISTMAS MASS
The magnificent church in Cathedraltown will be closed until 2016, dashing hopes of a holiday opening,
Every Christmas, the towering Slovak Cathedral of Transfiguration, with its 14-storey bell towers and 22carat gold-plated cupolas, casts a magnificent, yet long shadow over the nearby community of Cathedraltown.
The residents of the Markham subdivision, whose name was inspired by the European-style cathedral built more than two decades ago, say they have gotten used to seeing the “work of art” near Hwy. 404 and Major Mackenzie Dr., cordoned off and closed. The last service took place in 2006.
But this year, residents and local businesses had a glimmer of hope that the doors to the cathedral might be open for the holidays. The wish was based on an assurance made by developer Helen Roman-Barber, the head of King David Inc., in a June city of Markham staff report.
“The Cathedral of Transfiguration exists as a spiritual and physical focus to the community,” the developer said in the report, responding to complaints from Cathedraltown residents about the deficiencies in the community that remain a decade after it was built. “The Cathedral will be reopened in late 2015.”
As the months have passed with little news, the anticipation of the cathedral opening in time for Christmas has waned.
“It’s been 10 years and, at this point, I’m disappointed but what can we do about it?” said local resident Wilfred Yu, who has lived in the community since 2006. “People are losing faith in this community and starting to move out.”
In an email to the Star, Roman-Barber said the cathedral will open after new mosaics are built and installed, but she offered few specifics. “The mosaics cannot be installed in winter, so much later on in the year,” she said, referring to 2016.
The ambitious project was started by mining magnate Stephen B. Roman in1984. When he died four years later, his daughter carried it on and has been working to complete the project since.
The church was once at the heart of the Eparchy for Catholic Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite in Canada, attached to the Roman Catholic Church. But a dispute over the title of the land led the bishop at the time to move out and ban priests from saying mass at the cathedral. Other than a few private concerts, the cathedral hasn’t had a religious service since the summer of 2006.
Like many residents, Yu bought into the vision that Cathedraltown had promised to be: a European-inspired community, where people could pray, walk around a “lake” adorned with fountains and along an Italian styled open-air “piazza.”
Residents say the lake is just a stormwater pond and the piazza is incomplete. They are hoping some of the issues will be addressed through an Ontario Municipal Board hearing in the spring.
But opening up the cathedral, locals say, would restore their belief in the community.
“This is a wonderful piece of art, and keeping it closed really affects the whole community,” said local business owner Gabriel Garcia, who owns GUAU, a pet-grooming spa on the piazza leading up the cathedral.
“Opening it up would bring life to the street,” said Garcia, adding business owners were told the cathedral would be opened a year ago. Without it, the commercial street is almost always a ghost town, he said.
Garcia questions why the cathedral can’t be open on weekends, with work continuing during the week. Or why the city hasn’t taken more interest in the landmark building, one of the only chruches in North America to be blessed by Pope John Paul II, which is visited and photographed weekly by curious visitors.
“We have taken the time to get the artwork for the next installation of mosaics exactly right, so it has taken longer than anticipated,” Roman-Barber said. “The Cathedral cannot be open to the public when construction work is going on.”
Yu said he has seen some work on site, including some renovation to the mural above the door, but what’s happening inside is a mystery.
“We had heard they were doing work inside on the mural, but nobody has ever seen it,” he said.
He said residents can’t wait for the day the building is open to the public. But until then, they aren’t expecting any miracles.
“You call this Cathedraltown, but we only have a cathedral . . . just a shell,” he said. “Only when it’s open will this finally become a town.”