Introduction

This exhibition, The Golden Rule: Social Justice and the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society, explores the evolution of justice-oriented mission work from the Society’s early efforts at poverty-alleviation, the anticipation an response to the Second Vatican Council, and the subsequent expansion of ministries focusing on economic, political, interfaith, and ecological justice.

On January 21, 2025, we welcomed Father Robert E. Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D., Research Fellow of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at Boston College and Archivist of the Passionist China Collection, for an opening lecture to mark the opening of the exhibition. His talk, Proclaiming the Gospel Truth- Reflections on History To Shape the Future, 1918- 2025: The Scarboro Mission Archives at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, was recorded and is available to view online.

Acknowledgements

This exhibition was curated by Francesca Rousselle.

Many thanks to Sheila Eaton for her design work on all elements of the physical exhibition, James Roussain for his guidance and editorial work, Malgorzata Zajkowska for her work in preparing items for display, and the John M. Kelly Library Special Collections team.

Special thanks to the Friends of the Kelly Library and the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society for their generous support of this exhibition.

Additional thanks to Lillian Hogendoorn and the University of Toronto Libraries for their technical support in hosting this digital exhibition.