St. Agnes Kouying Tsao Catholic Church (Traditional Chinese: 天主教聖曹桂英堂), formerly known as Blessed Agnes Kouying Tsao Catholic Mission, was founded in 1992 by Rev. Fr. Nicola Ruggiero, an Italian missionary preaching in Hong Kong. St. Agnes was built in response to the growing religious demands of Chinese Christian immigrants flooding into the Markham area from places like Hong Kong and Mainland China. On October 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized St.