September 22, 1875: The Jubilee Riots

Crowds of Protestants greeted a Catholic religious procession winding its way between Toronto churches on September 22, 1875, with stones, scorn and gunfire. It was a Sunday. Catholics in the 19th century fought a bitter, often lopsided feud with Protestants — who dominated Toronto’s upper classes.

On the afternoon of September 22, Catholic Torontonians set out to honour the 1875 Jubilee — a special year of penance and reflection — by visiting several local churches over the course of the day.

A huge procession attended mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral. As they began marching to St. Paul’s Basilica, crowds of curious onlookers followed along. Among them were knots of young (and drunk) men who, according to a city newspaper, began shouting “To Hell with the Pope!” at the marchers.

A city newspaper reported that a crowd of hundreds “who appeared actuated with the determination to stop the procession,” were waiting when it finally arrived at Spadina Ave. and Queen St. The crowd cast the first stones. Marchers threw them back, guns were drawn and a bitter melee ensued. Police later restored order, and the procession moved off under a security detail.

Gunshots rang out at a second, bigger brawl near King St. and Brock St. Police managed to break up the crowd and arrest several rioters.

Toronto’s Protestant mayor blamed the marchers for the riot and issued a formal complaint to the city’s ranking Catholic clergyman, saying a Sunday procession was disruptive to public order. Several newspapers denounced the riot, with one describing it as “contrary to the most cherished principles of Protestantism, and to the very essence of free thought and free speech.”

Jubilee is a special year of penance and religious observance, usually called by the Vatican about once every 25 to 50 years.