Church records showed that the
Church covered the cost of pauper burials up to 1850. In
1851 the St. Vincent de Paul Society assumed the cost of
coffins and opening and closing the graves of paupers.
Concerned about the constant drain on the Society's funds for
that purpose, Father J.M. Bruyere asked the Conferences in
1854 to determine some other method of covering that expense.
At the same time, a broadsheet was distributed through the
city, accusing the Catholic Church of forcing the Irish poor
to bury their dead in their own cabbage gardens .
Because of that negative publicity, the Society continued to
carry the burden of burial expenses for the poor.
Exerts from a
history document
Professor Murray W. Nicolson M.A., Ph.D.
Society of
St. Vincent de Paul
Toronto Central Council
240 Church
Street Toronto, Ontario M5B 1Z2
Tel: 416-364-5577 Fax: 416-364-2055
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