Jesuit missions in North America - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jesuit missions in North America started during the 17th century and faltered at the beginning of the 18th. The missions were established as part of the colonial drive of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

during the period, the "conquest of the souls" being an integral part of the constitution of Nouvelle-France and early New Spain

New Spain

New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

. The efforts of the Jesuits in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

were paralleled by their Jesuit China missions

Jesuit China missions

The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in continuing the transmission of...

on the other side of the world.

Establishment of Nouvelle-France and first missions

Toward the end of his reign, Henry IV of France

Henry IV of France

Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....

started to look at the possibility of ventures abroad, with both North America and the Levant

Levant

The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...

being among the possibilities.

In 1604, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain

Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....

initiated the first important French involvement in Northern America He founded Port Royal

Port Royal, Nova Scotia

Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...

as the first permanent European settlement in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

north of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

in 1605, and the first permanent French establishment at Quebec

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

in 1608.

First Mission (1609)

The Jesuits established a mission on Penobscot Bay

Penobscot Bay

Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...

in 1609, which was part of the French colony of Acadia

Acadia

Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...

Second Mission (1611)

The Jesuits wanted to participate in these forays into new lands. On October 25, 1604, the Jesuit Father Pierre Coton

Pierre Coton

Pierre Coton was a French Jesuit and royal confessor.-Life:Coton studied law at Paris and Bourges, entered the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty-five, and was sent to Milan to study philosophy. Here he became acquainted with Charles Borromeo...

requested the General of the Company Claudio Acquaviva

Claudio Acquaviva

Claudio Acquaviva was an Italian Jesuit priest elected in 1581 the 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus...

to send two missionaries to Terre-Neuve

Terre-Neuve

Terre-Neuve can refer to these locations:* Terre-Neuve, Artibonite, a municipality in Haiti* Terre-Neuve, Saint Barthélemy, quartier of Saint Barthélemy* Newfoundland , in French is Terre-Neuve...

. As a result, in 1611, the two first Jesuits, Pierre Biard

Pierre Biard

Pierre Biard was a Jesuit missionary who was given orders by Father Pierre Coton, confessor and preacher to King Louis XIII, to take charge of the Jesuit mission, located in Acadia. The colonial territory in northeastern North America rejected Father Biard's authority, resulting in a hostile...

and Enemond Massé

Énemond Massé

Énemond Massé was a French Jesuit missionary, one of the first Jesuits sent to New France.-Life:Massé was born at Lyon. Before leaving for French Canada, he was the confessor of Antoinette de Pons, the Marquise de Guercheville...

were able to leave for Port Royal

Port Royal, Nova Scotia

in Acadia

Acadia

. The mission failed in 1613 following a raid by Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

ns.

Fourth mission (1625)

The Jesuits conceived plans to move their efforts to the banks of the Saint-Laurent river. A fourth mission was established in 1625, composed of fathers Charles Lalemant (as Superior), Enemond Massé, Jean de Brébeuf

Jean de Brébeuf

Jean de Brébeuf was a Jesuit missionary, martyred in Canada on March 16, 1649.-Early years:Brébeuf was born in Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy, France. He was the uncle of the fur trader Georges de Brébeuf. He studied near home at Caen. He became a Jesuit in 1617, joining the Order...

, and assistants François Charton and Gilbert Buret. This mission failed following the occupation of Quebec

Quebec City

by English forces in 1629.

The Jesuit establishment

The Jesuit missions would gain a strong foothold in North America in 1632, with the arrival of the Jesuit Paul Le Jeune

Paul Le Jeune

Paul Le Jeune was a French Jesuit missionary in French Canada.-Biography:Le Jeune was born in Vitry-le-François in the region of Champagne, France in 1591...

. Between 1632 and 1650, 46 French Jesuit arrived to preach among the Indians.

Missions

In 1634, the Jesuit established a mission in Huron territory under the direction of Jean de Brébeuf. The Mission de Sainte-Marie was quite successful, and considered as "the jewel of the Jesuit mission in New France." More than a decade later, it was destroyed by traditional Huron enemies, the Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

, first in 1648 and again in 1649. The Jesuits were killed along with the Huron. Eight Jesuits—killed between 1642 and 1649—became known as the North American Martyrs.

In 1654, the Jesuits started establishing missions among the Iroquois. In 1656 Sainte Marie among the Iroquois

Sainte Marie among the Iroquois

Sainte Marie among the Iroquois was a 17th century French Jesuit mission to the Onondaga Iroquois. It was located on Onondaga Lake near modern-day Syracuse, New York...

(originally known as Sainte-Marie-de-Ganentaa or St. Mary's of Ganantaa) was the first of these new missions to be established, located among the Onondagas under Father Simon Le Moyne

Simon Le Moyne

Father Simon Le Moyne, S.J. was a Jesuit priest in Lower Canada who was involved in the mission to the Hurons. His notability in Canadian history comes from his work as an ambassador of peace to the Iroquois....

. Within thirteen years, the Jesuits had missions among all five Iroquois nations, in part imposed by French attacks against their villages in present-day New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

state. As relations between the French and the Iroquois were tense however, the missions were all abandoned by 1708. Some converted Iroquois and members of other nations migrated to Canada, where they joined the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake by 1718.

The Jesuit mission at Detroit was moved to Bois Blanc Island in 1742. The mission was later reestablished in the vicinity of present-day Windsor, closer to the defences at Detroit. The Huron mission served both native and European residents, with the arrival of French settlers in the area. In 1767, the mission became the Parish of Assumption, the earliest Roman Catholic parish in present-day Ontario.

In the late 1750s, leaders from Kahnawake led 30 families upriver to create a new settlement at Akwesasne
Akwesasne
The Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne is a Mohawk Nation territory that straddles the intersection of international and provincial borders on both banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Most of the land is in what is otherwise the United States...

, today the largest Mohawk settlement in Canada.

Seminaries

In order to train young Indians to the Christian faith, a Seminary is opened near Quebec, at Notre-Dame-des-Anges

Notre-Dame-des-Anges, Quebec

Notre-Dame-des-Anges is a parish municipality in Quebec, Canada, home of the General Hospital of Quebec.Enclaved within the territory of Quebec City, this unusual municipality, lacking any governmental structure, has a population of 437 and measures only 6 hectares in area, making it the smallest...

in 1636. The first students were five young Hurons, who were followed by a dozen of young Montagnais and Algonquins in 1638-1639. After first successes, the seminary failed as the young Indians proved reluctant to be educated, and died in great numbers due to infections brought by the Westerners. A second seminary was opened in Trois-Rivières

Trois-Rivières

Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...

but failed after one year.

Reductions

A more successful endeavour was the establishment of "reductions

Indian Reductions

Reductions were settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion.Already since the beginning of the Spanish presence in the Americas, the Crown had been concerned...

", villages where natives were settled under the control of the Jesuits. The reductions in North America were inspired by the Jesuit Reductions

Jesuit Reductions

A Jesuit Reduction was a type of settlement for indigenous people in Latin America created by the Jesuit Order during the 17th and 18th centuries. In general, the strategy of the Spanish Empire was to gather native populations into centers called Indian Reductions , in order to Christianize, tax,...

of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, especially Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

. Reductions were first established for the nomads of the Saint-Laurent valley, at Sillery near Quebec and Conception near Trois-Rivières, and later among sedentary Indians: the Hurons at Notre-Dame-de-Foy and later at Lorette

Lorette

Lorette may refer to the following places:* Lorette, Loire, a commune in the Loire department, France* Lorette, Manitoba, a community in Manitoba, Canada* Lorette, Pommes, a fried potato dish from French cuisine....

, and the Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

at La Prairie de la Madeleine.

One of the most famous reductions was that of Sillery, near Quebec, which was established with the financial help of Noël Brûlart de Sillery

Noël Brûlart de Sillery

Noël Brûlart de Sillery was a French diplomat who, upon renouncing the world and taking holy orders, provided from his fortune for the establishment of a mission in New France....

in 1637. In 1645, there were 167 native inhabitants in Sillery. The reduction was raided by the Iroquois in 1646. In 1670, Sillery was subject to an epidemic of measles

Measles

Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...

, so that the Montagnais and Algonquins left the territory. In 1698, the Jesuits abandoned their post there as missionaries, and transferred the territory to the jurisdiction of the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Sainte-Foy.

Conflict with the Iroquois

The efforts of the Jesuits in Northern American would be constantly hampered by the conflict of the French with the Iroquois. The Huron Nation was essentially destroyed by the effects of warfare with the Iroquois following epidemic

Epidemic

In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...

infectious diseases from 1634-1640. At last, in 1701, the "Grande Paix de Montréal" would end the conflict.

Methods

The Jesuits in America used methods which were comparatively respectful of the traditional way of life of the Indians, especially compared to the approach of the Puritans in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

. They required a conformity to their code of dress and behaviour. In a simplification, the 19th century Protestant historian Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman

Francis Parkman was an American historian, best known as author of The Oregon Trail: Sketches of Prairie and Rocky-Mountain Life and his monumental seven-volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as history and especially as literature, although the biases of his...

wrote: "Spanish civilization crushed the Indian; English civilization scorned and neglected him; French civilization embraced and cherished him."

Jesuit missionaries learned Indian languages, and accepted Indian ways, to the point of conforming to them, especially when living among them. According to Jérôme Lalemant

Jérôme Lalemant

Jérôme Lalemant was a Jesuit priest who came to Canada in 1638 after much varied experience in the priesthood in France. He was almost immediately made superior for the mission to the Hurons, succeeding Jean de Brébeuf, and in 1639 founded Sainte-Marie-des-Hurons which was the central residence...

, a missionary must first have "penetrated their thoughts... adapted himself to their manner of living and, when necessary, been a Barbarian with them." To gain the Indians' confidence, the Jesuits drew parallels between Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

and Indian practices, making connections to the mystical dimension and symbolism of Catholicism (pictures, bells, incense, candlelight), giving out religious medals as amulets, and promoting the benefits of the cult of relics.

Further expansion

By 1667 the Jesuits had established a station near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

. The Illiniwek

Illiniwek

The Illinois Confederation, sometimes referred to as the Illiniwek or Illini, were a group of twelve to thirteen Native American tribes in the upper Mississippi River valley of North America...

whom they met there are reported to have asked the French

France

to send a missionary to them in their home country. In 1673, Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette

Jacques Marquette

Father Jacques Marquette S.J. , sometimes known as Père Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie, and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan...

and French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet

Louis Jolliet

Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...

undertook the journey and explored the Mississippi river

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

as far south as the mouth of the Arkansas River

Arkansas River

The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...

.

During the late 1690s, the Jesuits expanded along the middle of the Mississippi river, in competition with the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Quebec (a branch of the Paris Foreign Missions Society

Paris Foreign Missions Society

The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious order, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands....

). In 1700, the Jesuits established themselves at the mouth of the River Des Peres

River des Peres

The River des Peres is a metropolitan river in St. Louis, Missouri. It is the backbone of sanitary and stormwater systems in the city of St. Louis and portions of St. Louis County...

. From 1703 a large Jesuit establishment was based at Kaskaskia

Kaskaskia, Illinois

Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. In the 2010 census the population was 14, making it the second-smallest incorporated community in the State of Illinois in terms of population. A major French colonial town of the Illinois Country, its peak population was about...

in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

country, when Jacques Gravier

Jacques Gravier

Jacques Gravier was a French Jesuit missionary in the New World. He founded the Illinois mission in 1696, where he administered to the several tribes of the territory...

was appointed vicar general of the Illinois

Illinois

Mission

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

. He was located in Fort de Chartres

Fort de Chartres

Fort de Chartres was a French fortification first built in 1720 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. The Fort de Chartres name was also applied to the two successive fortifications built nearby during the 18th century in the era of French colonial control over...

.

Many of the missionaries compiled studies or dictionaries of the First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

and Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

languages which they learned. For instance, Jacques Gravier compiled the most extensive Kaskaskia Illinois-French dictionary

Dictionary

A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...

among works of the missionaries before his death in 1708. It was not edited and published until 2002, but the work has contributed to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma

The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Miami Indians.-History:The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma is Eastern Woodland tribe, who traditionally spoke the Miami-Illinois language, a language of the Algonquin family, but few tribal members speak the language today...

's language revitalization project with Miami University

Miami University

Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...

in Oxford, Ohio

Oxford, Ohio

Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...

.

Great Britain

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

took over colonial rule of Canada and the lands east of the Mississippi River in 1763 after the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

. In Quebec they allowed the Jesuits to continue to minister to First Nations villages.

The Jesuits maintained a presence until their order was dissolved in France. They were officially expelled from Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

in 1763. At that time twenty-seven of them were officiating from Quebec to Louisiana. After the Order was restored by Pope Pius VII

Pope Pius VII

Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...

in 1814, Jesuits resumed missionary work in Louisiana from around 1830.

Several Belgian men came to study at Whitemarsh, near Bowie, Maryland

Bowie, Maryland

Bowie is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 54,727 at the 2010 census. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous city and third largest city by area in the state of...

, in the early 1820s. They all had volunteered to be missionaries to Native Americans. Father Pierre-Jean De Smet

Pierre-Jean De Smet

Pierre-Jean De Smet , also known as Pieter-Jan De Smet, was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus , active in missionary work among the Native Americans of the Midwestern United States in the mid-19th century.His extensive travels as a missionary were said to total...

, who started working in Missouri in 1830, would eventually build strong relationships with leaders of numerous tribes of the West, including Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...

, war chief of the Sioux

Sioux

The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

. Through the nineteenth century, Jesuit priests founded missions and schools among Native tribes in present-day Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

and Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

Spanish Jesuit missions in North America

Spanish missions in Arizona
Spanish missions in Arizona
Beginning in 1493, the Kingdom of Spain maintained a number of missions throughout Nueva España in order to facilitate colonization of these lands....
Spanish missions in Baja California
Spanish missions in Baja California
The Spanish Missions in Baja California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, between 1683 and 1834 to spread the Christian doctrine among the local natives...
Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert
Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert
The Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert are a series of Jesuit Catholic religious outposts established by the Spanish Catholic Jesuits and other orders for religious conversions of the Pima and Tohono O'odham indigenous peoples residing in the Sonoran Desert...
Suppression of the Society of Jesus - expelled and replaced by the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

mission program