In 1928 Archbishop Neil McNeill gave permission to Lithuanians living in Toronto to establish their own
Lithuanian parish. The Lithuanian community purchased a former Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Dundas Street and
Gorevale Avenue and the diocese consecrated it as St. John the Baptist parish on April 19, 1928. The first appointed parish
priest was Fr. Jonas Gervickas.
By 1935 a rectory was constucted and a basement was dug under the church to create the parish hall. This was an amazing
accomplishment since it was done during the depression and by the parishioners who dug out the basement with shovels after
they had finished work on weekdays and during the weekends. The parish hall became the social and cultural centre of the
community.
From 1936 and 1948 there was no Lithuanian priest in Toronto and the parish priest for most of those years was Fr. Vincent
McGiveney.
In 1946 His Eminence Cardinal James Charles McGuigan formally invited Fr. Petras Azubalis to come to Toronto from Europe.
Fr. Petras Azubalis arrived in Toronto in 1947 and spent a year at an English parish. In 1948 Fr. Petras Azubalis was
appointed the pastor at St. John the Baptist parish.
Over the years the parish thrived and eventually became too small. Fr. Azubalis received permission from Archbishop Philip
Pocock in 1974 to move the parish to larger facilities in Mississauga. He commissioned renown architech Alfredas Kulpa-Kulpavicius
to draw up the plans and the church which was consecrated as the Lithuanian Martyrs Parish.
From 1980 to 2006 Fr. Jonas Staskevicius was the pastor of the parish. In 2006 Fr. Vytautas Staskevicius was appointed the pastor
of the parish where he served until 2017. Fr. Nerijus Smerauskas was then appointed pastor where he serves to this present day.
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