Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1826-2025; primarily 1902-2024 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Scarboro Missions, known formally as the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society, is a Society of Canadian Roman Catholic priests dedicated to mission work domestically and abroad. The Society was founded in Almonte, Ontario, in 1918 by Msgr. John Mary Fraser as the "China Mission College" in order to train and send priests to China. Moving to Scarborough, Ontario, in the 1921, the Society became the "St. Francis Xavier China Mission Seminary". The new seminary opened in 1924. With Vatican approval of the Society's Constitutions in 1940, the Society became the "Scarboro Foreign Mission Society".
Complications arising from the second Second Sino-Japanese War, WWII, and the Communist Revolution in China forced Scarboro to begin missions elsewhere, starting in the Dominican Republic in 1943. The Society has has missions in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America.
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) greatly impacted the Society. In addition to traditional evangelical missionary work, the Society engaged in social and economic justice work, ecumenical efforts, and were a large supporter and educator in interfaith dialogue in the Toronto-area. The Society also began to accept lay members to work in mission - singles and married couples - beginning in 1974.
In November 2017, the Society announced that due to aging and declining membership they would stop accepting new candidates for the priesthood or lay program.
Archival history
Materials were maintained as an internal archive by Society members, and later by a series of archivists, prior to donation and transfer to the University of St. Michael's College in 2023. Some materials were already described, where inherited descriptions have been used or adapted, these are noted in the Sources field.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of the governance, administrative, and personnel records for the community of the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society.
This includes: reports, financial records, meeting minutes, policies and handbooks, General Chapter records, Society Constitutions, correspondence, publications by and about the Society, photographs, audiovisual materials, and personal records of Society members.
In addition to general administrative records of the Society's domestic and international operations, the fonds also contains reference materials and publications from other Catholic missionary societies, collected materials on the Our Lady of Fatima Pilgrimmage tour led by SFM priests, Msgr. William C. McGrath and Rev. Patrick Moore, sub-collections on SFM founder Msgr. John Mary Fraser, and member, Bishop Kenneth Turner, and a collection of ephemera gathered by SFM members over the years documenting their Society.
The Fonds is divided into the following series:
- General Chapters
- General Council
- Governance & Administration
- Civil Corporation
- Society Departments
- Seminary and Novitiate
- Missions
- Personnel
- Society Institutes
- Property and Houses
- Graphic Collection
- Audiovisual Collection
- Our Lady of Fatima Collection
- SFM History Collection
- Msgr. John Mary Fraser Collection
- Bishop Kenneth Turner Collection
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals expected.
System of arrangement
The received arrangement of the fonds has been preserved when possible. Where changes to arrangement have been made, this is indicated in the descriptions at the appropriate level.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Materials are being processed but can be made available upon researcher request.
Materials are open, with the exception of personnel materials and select governance records. Restrictions are noted at the appropriate series or file descriptions.
Conditions governing reproduction
Researchers are required to sign a Researcher Agreement form acknowledging their responsibilities in terms of Canadian copyright legislation. Some third party materials fall under copyright external to the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society and the University of St. Michael's College, researchers are required to seek permission from the appropriate source.
Language of material
- Chinese
- English
- Filipino
- French
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Latin
- Portuguese
- Spanish
Script of material
- Han
- Japanese
- Korean
- Latin
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of fonds.
Alternative identifier(s)
Accession
Accession
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Scarboro Foreign Mission Society (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created by F Rousselle 9 October 2024.
Revised by F Rousselle 24 April 2025.