Girls from the Cruzada Eucarística in procession
My father, Antonio Cabral de Melo, took photographs of the First Communion procession that took place on June 11, 1967 throughout the streets of Toronto from St. Mary’s church and ending at Exhibition Stadium for an outdoor Mass (based on what I can gather from the photographs).
There were so many people that it took three quarters of an hour with three priest giving out communion, so wrote my father on the back of the final photograph on this post.
Most of these photographs have not aged well. I think it’s partly due to the Kodak printing paper used at the time, but they still provide a glimpse into the vibrant and engaged Portuguese community in Toronto of those early years of immigration, and posted here during this year’s Portuguese Heritage Month.
The Archbishop of Toronto speaking to the Portuguese People
Emanuel Melo torontonian azorean writer 
I might be in one of those pictures.
Humberto da Silva
worker/witness/warrior/writer sindicalistatv@gmail.com humberto.dasilva.yyz@gmail.com
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Good idea, Emanuel, to bring out these photos.
Would there be a way to improve their quality?
Abraço, Ilda
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I need to investigate on how to preserve and improve the quality of these photos. It’s a shame they are in such poor quality but I thought it would be better to show them as they are rather than not show them at all. They represent a moment in the life of the Portuguese as they began to establish themselves in Toronto. Thank you for your comment.
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