Many prayers said for `great man'
David Migicovsky
Toronto Star Staff Reporter
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was remembered in thoughts and prayers wherever
people worshipped yesterday in Toronto.
``He was a great man. He put Canada on the map,'' said Father Fred
Mazzarella, who mentioned Trudeau in the mass last night at St. Francis'
Church on Mansfield Ave.
``Trudeau will be remembered at masses throughout the weekend,'' he added.
Trudeau was also remembered at Our Lady of Lourdes Jesuit parish on
Sherbourne Ave. and Earl St., said Sister Karen, who led the prayer.
``He was a good Christian man. He loved Canada,'' she said. ``I think he
was a great Canadian. Every time I got a chance to listen to him on TV I
always did.''
At Holy Blossom Temple, on Bathurst St., Trudeau's name was mentioned in
prayers during Rosh Hashanah, said Dennis Chow, who was there before
arriving at a wedding at St. Michael's Cathedral on Church St., where a
quiet few were lighting candles for the late prime minister in the back of
the church.
``I remembered Trudeau growing up. He was my introduction to politics. He
pointed me in the direction of the Liberals,'' said Chow, 45.
``I saw him once when he came to Toronto. He was on Bloor St. It was like
seeing a hockey superstar,'' Chow said. ``The people who followed after him
were nothing like him.''
Everad Jackman, 37, said a quiet prayer for Trudeau at the Seventh Day
Adventist Church on Sherbourne St.
``I liked his style. He was a free spirit,'' said Jackman, who owns a
computer company. ``He changed the face of Canada.''
For some, quiet prayers were not enough. Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis
(Scarborough-Agincourt) asked Father Vito Marziliano to say a memorial mass
for Trudeau on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at the Epiphany of Our Lord Church on
Pharmacy Ave.
``It will be our farewell to Trudeau. A lot of people in my constituency
could not afford the time or money to be in Ottawa,'' said Karygiannis, who
idolized Trudeau as a youth and met him for the first time at the Calgary
leadership convention in 1990.
``He told me to stick to my guns and deliver what I believe.
``A part of Canadian history is going away. For a lot of people this
(memorial mass) will bring closure when they couldn't be in Ottawa,''
Karygiannis said.
``To many new immigrants Trudeau was Canada,'' he said. And it's still true
today, he said.
A special memorial mass will also be held at St. Michael's Cathedral at
12:10 p.m. tomorrow, said Monsignor Sam Bianco, who was asked to perform it
by Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, who is out of town.
Bianco said he plans to pay tribute to the importance Trudeau placed on
public service.
``My thoughts are that the country was pretty fragile in terms of its unity
before he came along. He went a long way to keeping us together as a
people, and that's a good thing.''
Bianco said he will also speak about Trudeau's religious faith.
``I would think that he had extraordinary gifts. He was someone who
acknowledged these gifts, that they came from God. And he knew he had to
put them to use,'' he said.
>>David ========>
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