Tou, Thomas
Father Thomas Tou was the first Chinese Catholic priest working in Montreal, Quebec. Born near Beijing, China in 1921, he was ordained in China before spending eight years in Rome studying Canon Law. While in Rome, the Archbishop of Montreal invited him to come and work in Canada. Father Tou recalls that when he arrived in Montreal in 1957, Chinese women were still scarce among the population. Over his long career, Father Tou has helped many Chinese newcomers navigate family life in Canada, regardless of their affiliation with the church. For example, in the late 1950s, he received special permission to perform marriages for non-Catholic Chinese couples. This allowance helped couples comply with the immigration regulation that admitted fiancées into Canada, provided the marriage occurred within a short period of time. During the operation of the Chinese Adjustment Program (1962-1973), he also helped many Chinese Montrealers correct their immigration status. This program granted amnesty to Chinese immigrants who had entered Canada with false documents. Although Father Tou retired in 1998, he continued to serve the community at the Holy Spirit Montreal Chinese Catholic Mission at the time of the interview.
The Godparents Association at the Chinese Catholic Mission was founded in 1961 to help facilitate the baptism of new Chinese parishioners. In the Catholic faith, one needs a sponsor from the faith in order to be baptized. This sponsor, or godparent, must be a Catholic themselves and can’t be the mother or father of the person being baptized. In the early 1960s in Montreal, Quebec, there weren’t enough Chinese Catholics to act as godparents for new Chinese parishioners, so French-speaking Catholics filled in.
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