Toronto, Archdiocese of

TORONTO, ARCHDIOCESE OF. - Archdiocese and city in the province of Ontario (Canada).

The ecclesiastical province is made up of the dioceses of T., Hamilton and London. In the archdiocese, which covers an area of 6,300 square miles, with a population of 1,626,107 inhabitants of whom 260,000 are Catholics, there are 150 diocesan priests, 240 religious of 13 different congregations, 5 seminaries, 5 classical colleges, 119 churches with a resident priest, 40 missions; furthermore 69 communities of women religious. At the time of its erection, the diocese of T. covered the whole of Upper Canada west of the district of Newcast. The first missionary was the Recollect Giuseppe Le Caron, who celebrated Mass at Georgian Bay in 1615. Thus began the missions among the Hurons, made famous by the heroism of the Recollect and Jesuit fathers.

On 17 Dec. 1841, the diocese of Kingston (Ontario) was divided, and Fr. Michael Power, appointed bishop for the western part detached from Kingston, chose T. as his episcopal see. In the time of Bishop Msgr. A. F. Marie, T. was divided in 1856 to form the dioceses of Hamilton and London, both in the province of Ontario. On 18 March 1870, Msgr. G. G. Lynch, a Lazarist, bishop of T., was appointed archbishop, and on 18 Febr. 1946 T. received its first cardinal in the person of G. C. McGuigan. Within the boundaries of the archdiocese is situated the shrine of the Canadian Jesuit martyrs at Midland, Ontario.

Gastone Carrière

INSTITUTES

1. The State University

Founded in 1843, it is particularly renowned for its faculty of medicine, favored by substantial donations (Rockefeller, etc.), which has at its disposal modern laboratories for biochemical research (to it is owed, for example, the discovery of insulin). The faculty of arts consists of four Colleges, each with its own teaching body: a) University College, non-denominational; b) Victoria College (1841), belonging to the Methodists, with a faculty of theology; c) Trinity College (1851), Anglican, with a faculty of theology; d) St. Michael's College, Catholic, founded in 1852 by Bishop Armand F. M. de Charbonnel and entrusted to the Basilian Fathers, federated with the University in 1910.

2. The Institute of Mediaeval Studies

An institute of higher studies, founded, on the suggestion of Prof. Etienne Gilson, in 1929 by the Basilian Fathers in their St. Michael's College. Its purpose is the study of medieval philosophy and civilization, in all their aspects and with a rigorously scientific method. On the tenth anniversary of its establishment it received canonical erection with the title of "Pontifical" and the faculty of conferring the academic degrees of licentiate and doctorate (decree of the S. Congr. Sem. and Univ. of Studies, 18 Oct. 1939). Its Statutes, conformed to the apostolic constitution Deus scientiarum Dominus (v.), were approved by the same Congregation by decree of 26 Dec. 1940. Thus the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, which has six sections (theology, philosophy, history of canon law, history of Christian worship, medieval history and archaeology, Latin and vernacular literature), confers a new type of degree: "In studiis mediae aetatis". The courses in philosophy, history and literature are recognized by the State University for the purpose of obtaining from it the degrees of "Master of Arts" (M.A.) and "Doctor of Philosophy" (Ph.D.). It admits secular students, at least in arts, and ecclesiastics: the latter must have already completed the four-year theological course. The archbishop of T. is its grand chancellor. From the beginning Prof. Gilson has directed its studies. The Institute enjoys a well-merited reputation for the impulse it has given in favor of the recognition and diffusion of Catholic culture (cf. Pius XII, epistle Haud parva, 30 May 1947, in Mediaeval Studies, 9 [1947], beginning). It has published the annual volume Mediaeval Studies since 1939, which may be considered its journal.

3. The Seminaries

The diocesan major seminary (1913), enlarged in 1926 with the addition of the new building "Kehoe Hall", receives students also from other dioceses, especially from Kingston, Hamilton and Peterborough, whose bishops are members of the governing council. St. Francis Xavier Seminary (at Scarboro Bluffs), whose students attend the courses of study of the diocesan seminary. Founded in 1918 and entrusted to "The Scarboro Foreign Mission Society", it is the only institute in Canada that welcomes English-speaking young men destined for the missions, especially of China and Japan: it also provides priests for the Dominican Republic. Institutes reserved for the formation of the regular clergy: Jesuit Seminary and St. Basil's Seminary: both with their own teaching body.

Igino Cecchetti