Series 15 - Msgr. John Mary Fraser Collection

John Mary Fraser (1877-1962) was the first Roman Catholic priest from English-speaking Canada to work in China and the founder of China Mission College, later known as Scarboro Foreign Mission Society.

He was born John Andrew Fraser in Toronto on 28 June 1877 to Scottish immigrant parents, William Fraser (1839-1920) and Johanna Chisholm (1837-1920). He was the ninth of their eleven children:

1. Mary Ann Fraser (6 May 1866 – 7 Feb. 1935)
2. William Fraser [Fr. William Fraser, ordained 1905] (2 Apr. 1867 – 24 Nov. 1952)
3. Isabella Fraser (4 Aug. 1868 – 17 Feb. 1907)
4. James Green Fraser (6 Nov. 1869 – 17 Nov. 1869)
5. Joanna Fraser [Sr. Geraldine, CSJ] (30 Nov. 1870 – 26 Jul. 1932)
6. Alexander Fraser (19 Jun. 1872 – 5 Apr. 1953)
7. Catherine H. Fraser (29 Nov. 1873 – 19 Sep. 1874)
8. Teresa Fraser [Sr. Mary St. John the Evangelist, ODNC ] (10 May 1875 – 28 Apr. 1961)
9. John Andrew Fraser (28 Jun. 1877 – 3 Sep. 1962)
10. Charles Fraser (7 Dec. 1878 – 19 Feb. 1953)
11. Margaret Rose Fraser (5 Jun. 1881 – 10 Jul. 1881)

Fraser attended St. Michael’s College (Toronto, Ont.) and graduated in 1896. Shortly thereafter, wishing to study for the priesthood (to become a priest in the Archdiocese of Toronto), in September 1896 he was sent to the Seminary Collegio Brignole Sale in Genoa, Italy (at the time there was no Seminary in Toronto). It was here in Genoa that he met missioners returning from their work abroad and this awakened his own mission vocation.

Fraser was ordained “for the missions” in Genoa in 1901, at which point he took the religious name John Mary Fraser. After a visit to Canada to bid goodbye to his family, he set sail for China and arrived on 21 December 1902. He was assigned to the Diocese of Ningpo and became the first Roman Catholic priest from English-speaking Canada to work in China.
In 1910, Fraser returned to Canada and spent two years trying to raise interest in the work in China. At that time, he also visited the United States, Ireland, Scotland and England. He then returned to his work in China.

On 9 November 1918, Fraser finally received authorisation from Archbishop Gauthier of Ottawa to establish a mission college in his diocese. The new college was opened in a former convent and school in Almonte, Ontario in September 1919. In 1921, the college was moved to Scarborough, Ontario, and in 1924, the staff and students moved into a new building on the property adjacent to St. Augustine's Seminary. Because of its location in Scarborough, China Mission Seminary eventually became known as Scarboro Missions.

Meanwhile, John Fraser continued his work in China, gradually joined by graduates of his college in Scarborough. In recognition of his efforts, Pope Pius XI conferred on Father Fraser the title of Pronotary Apostolic (P. A.) of the Church on 2 Dec. 1931. From this point on, he was known as Monsignor Fraser.

Fraser's life in China was interrupted in 1941 when he returned to Canada to attend to important matters of his growing mission society. On his return he was stranded in Manila by the outbreak of Second World War. Initially staying in the residence of the Archbishop of Manila, he was interned for three-and-a-half years during the Japanese occupation of Manila, returning to Canada in 1945.

In 1946, Monsignor Fraser once again set sail for China and continued his work in Kinhwa. Three years later, he returned to Toronto to attend the second General Chapter of the Society in 1949. He never returned to China. Shortly after his departure, under communist leadership, China was closed to any missionary endeavours. Fraser's fellow Canadian missioners who remained in China were arrested and eventually expelled from the country.

After the closure of the China mission, Monsignor Fraser soon accepted an invitation from Bishop Yamaguchi of Nagasaki, Japan to establish a new mission in that country. In May 1950, at age 73, he left for Japan. There, he built churches and established schools in Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Osaka.

Monsignor Fraser died on 3 September 1962, at the age of 85, at his residence in Osaka. He is buried in Shukugawa Catholic cemetery in Osaka.