Pastoral Team
Pastor: Fr. Paul MacNeil
I was appointed as pastor of Our Lady of the Scapular parish in November 2015 and I am delighted to be here. Before that, I was pastor of St. Ann's parish in Fenwick Ontario, a small but loving community about 30 minutes from here. I was born and raised in St. Catharines and ordained to the priesthood in 1999. Currently I am Chair of the Niagara Catholic District School Board and I'm working on my PhD in Religious Studies at McMaster University. As your pastor, my first priority is just to listen, to get to know you and understand the best way for me to serve you and to bring you closer to each other and to God through Christ.
Our Lady of the Scapular Church
6557 Thorold Stone Road
Niagara Falls, Ontario, L2J 1B2
Phone: 905-358-7611 • Fax 905-358-7679
Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00am to 3:00pm
(We are closed from 12:00 - 1:00pm for lunch.)
Reconciliation
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is for our spiritual healing. According to the Gospels, after the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the apostles, breathed on them, and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” (John 20:22-23) The reason for this sacrament is to heal our spiritual wounds, which we call sin.
​
Catholics must confess all known mortal sins to a priest. By doing this, we put ourselves in the state of grace necessary to receive the Holy Eucharist.
​
Confessing sins to a priest is not as difficult as people think. Most people tell sensitive, delicate and confidential information to their doctor or lawyer, so why not a priest? The priest is bound by the most absolute secrecy and confidentiality known to humankind. Not even the Pope can get the priest to reveal what was said in the confessional.