We have a new exhibit at the Catholic Pastoral Centre!
Since the Archdiocese of Toronto is one of the most ethnically diverse Catholic dioceses in the world, we wanted to take an opportunity to celebrate this fact.
Steps through Time takes the viewer on a visual tour through six properties in downtown Toronto, uncovering over nine different cultural communities represented in their histories.
Come see items from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, St. Patrick's Church, Catholic Settlement House, Felician Sisters Convent/Nursery, St. Stanislaus Church and St. Mary's Church.
We invite viewers to engage with these histories not only visually but physically, as well. Since all properties are still important and functioning fixtures of the Archdiocese of Toronto, we have a self-guided walking tour that goes along with the display.
Next time you're at 1155 Yonge Street, come up to the Archives Department on the 5th floor to take a look!
May 18th is International Museum Day and we are also approaching Toronto Bike Month (today is National Bike to Work Day in the United States). So we thought it would be topical to feature a museum-style display we exhibited a few years ago featuring missionaries on two wheels.
ARCAT Staff Photo
"Missionaries on Wheels" archival display in the lobby of the Archdiocese of Toronto Catholic Pastoral Centre, September 2009.
The display features photographs and letters from the Pastoral Mission Fund.
The Pastoral Mission Fund (PMF) is an charitable agency supported by Archdiocese of Toronto. It was established in 1982 "to assist missionary sisters and priests of parishes and indigenous orders with small projects and programs directly related to evangelization and strengthening of the Roman Catholic faith...[A]llocations are made in support of missionaries working at a grassroots level in the developing nations in Africa, India, Vietnam, South America, Haiti, and Oceania."
Allocations are commonly used to purchase bicycles, scooters and motorcycles. These vehicles provide the most efficient and economic way for missionaries to visit villages and outstations in their pastoral care. After receiving funding, the missionaries send back photographs and letters to the PMF as part of the reporting process.
Therefore, when the Archives receives records from the PMF, the files are full of photographs of missionary sisters and priests displaying their new wheels.
Here are some of the photos and extracts from letters that we featured in the display above:
This Victoria Day long weekend, visit one of the many museums, galleries and historic houses in the GTA. And remember to inflate your tires for Toronto Bike to Work day on May 28th!
Gillian Hearns, Director of Archives at the Archdiocese of Toronto, shows off some of our treasured artifacts at the Eastern Regional Celebration to mark the archdiocesan 175th anniversary. (ARCAT Staff Photo)
It is the nature of archives that researchers interested in accessing documents firsthand are required to visit the repository that houses and protects them. In other words, our records don't get out much.
Therefore, it was with excitement (and, admittedly, a little trepidation) that we decided to pack up some of our most treasured artifacts and put them on display to mark the Archdiocese of Toronto's 175th Anniversary.
The archdiocese is divided into four pastoral regions and each has held, or will hold, an Anniversary Celebration with mass and reception hosted by Cardinal Thomas Collins and the regional auxiliary bishop. At each event, we have set up a historical display in the narthex and reception hall of the host parish.
It has been a wonderful opportunity to engage with the Catholic community that wouldn't typically use the archives or even know much about the archdiocese beyond parish life. So far, we have taken our roadshow to Merciful Redeemer Parish, Mississauga (Western Region), St. Mary's Parish, Barrie (Northern Region) and St. Isaac Jogues Parish, Pickering (Eastern Region).
The final Regional Celebration will be held at Blessed Trinity Parish (3220 Bayview Ave.) next Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 7 p.m. If you are in the Toronto area, we invite you to come celebrate this milestone with us and see what ARCAT has to offer!
The Archives serve the offices of the archdiocese on a daily basis but many employees at the Catholic Pastoral Centre have no idea of what lurks behind the Archives suite door. So we decided to invite everyone to come and see for themselves during an informal open house last Friday:
Our open house promised three things:
Treasures: samples of the most interesting, eye-catching or generally awe-inspiring documents and artifacts in our holdings
Trivia: a contest ballot that visitors could complete while wandering around the archives
Treats: we made some edibles based on records in our holdings
ARCAT Director Marc Lerman (left) discusses vestments.
Bling is always a hit with visitors!
In addition to pectoral crosses and episcopal rings, there was also a benemerenti and a Companion to the Order of Canada medal on display.
In our reading room were documents such as papal bulls, the decree erecting the See of Toronto and items from the most recent papal conclave.
We loaded microfilm of an old baptismal register to be deciphered for a trivia question.
Examples of different types of black and white photos and their storage.
Examples of textual records, such as a broadsheet of The Toronto Mirror (1856), a ticker tape telegraph, greeting cards, and a note signed by Prime Minister John A. MacDonald
Visitors were encouraged to explore one of our climate controlled storerooms. The newest addition is this wall-mounted grid that allows us to hang framed items, including archbishops' portraits, our old archdiocesan coat of arms and a limited edition crucifixion relief by Salvador Dali.
The trivia questions. Happy to report we some very intrepid trivia hounds and three winners.
On their way out, we invited guests to help themselves to some records-inspired treats.
We made "French Kisses" (coconut and almond meringues) that were listed under Ornamented Confectionery in this 1884 banquet menu (only because we thought "Arches of Buffalo Tongues" was slightly over the top).
We also made a Cinnamon Loaf cake from the 1976 Centennial Recipe Book from St. Patrick's Parish, Schomberg.
In addition, we tried to familiarize our colleagues with some of the work we do by setting up a conservation station, a processing station, and a photography table.
Our conservation "lab" displayed various preservation tools and materials (right) as well as a humidification chamber (centre). We have been using the chamber to soften brittle, rolled architectural drawings, so they can be flattened and stored flat (left).
At the processing station we demonstrated how contemporary records that are transferred to us are appraised, arranged, described and rehoused.
The photography table in the background is for shooting items for the Sacred Objects Exchange.
We are happy to report that the open house was a sweet suite outreach success. Our colleagues were engaged and it was fantastic opportunity for us to show off the archives!
In 1984, Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit Canada. From September 14 to 16, he was in the Archdiocese of Toronto. To mark the 30th anniversary of this unprecedented event, ARCAT installed a small display of photographs, memorabilia and ephemera from the Toronto leg of 1984 Papal Visit:
1984 Papal Visit to the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Photographs of the 30th anniversary display at the Catholic Pastoral Centre, Archdiocese of Toronto
The photos (courtesy of Concacan Inc., Ottawa) include an awesome shot of the pope emerging from a military helicopter after being flown to Midland to visit Martyrs' Shrine and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons.
Archival items in the display include: a plastic smock worn by volunteers at the mass at Downsview Airfield; ciboria for distributing the Eucharist during the mass; tickets for the Papal Audience; and commemorative medals and coins.
Read more about St. John Paul II's 1984 visit here.
Photograph of Pope John XXIII with Toronto Mayor Nathan Phillips and his wife. [between 1958 and 1962] PH 63/13CP
Pope John Paul II arrives at Pearson Airport September 14, 1984 for the Toronto/Huronia leg of the Papal Visit to Canada Photograph courtesy RCMP/GRC
On Sunday, two former popes - Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II - will be canonized.
The Archdiocese of Toronto has created a website that includes biographies, stories from people who met the Popes and local events celebrating the canonizations. There is also a list of the many monuments, schools, parishes and other buildings in the archdiocese named after the Church's two newest saints.
ARCAT created a display of photos, papal medals depicting the Popes, as well as ephemera from the 1984 Papal Visit to Canada.
Our latest display in the entrance of the Catholic Pastoral Centre.
Paul VI papal medal, 1963
Medallions Special Collection, MD.23
Fifty years ago, Pope Paul VI reconvened the Second Vatican Council, which had automatically closed with the death of Pope John XXIII. Paul VI, portrayed in profile on the obverse of this medal, was known for giving Vatican II clear direction, and for leading the implementation of its resulting reforms.
This papal medal commemorates Paul VI opening the second session of Vatican II in 1963. The reverse depicts the Supreme Pontiff walking through the doors of St. Peter's Basilica to a crowd of seated participants. St. Peter's Baldachin over the main altar can be seen in the background.
The medal likely belonged to Most Rev. Philip F. Pocock, Coadjutor Archbishop of Toronto at the time, who participated in Vatican II on behalf of Archbishop James Cardinal McGuigan. It has an "800" stamp on the reverse, indicating a composition of 80% silver and 20% copper.
The issuing of papal jubilee medals began as
early as 1475. Since then, the most noteworthy actions of each
pontificate have been commemorated by medals,
often designed by famous artists.
Display of medals at the Catholic Pastoral Centre
Today we took down a display of medals from the lobby entrance of the Catholic Pastoral Centre. Luckily - because the medals are impervious to heat and sunlight - we were able to keep the display up all summer.
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