North American Martyrs

The Jesuits who came to New France brought the Gospel in an open way.

The Jesuit missionaries came with a readiness to meet the

American Indians on their own terms; that is, to learn their language and their culture. One Jesuit wrote:

As God made Himself man in order to make men Gods, a missionary does not fear to make himself a savage, so to speak, with them, in order to make them Christians. Omnibus omnia factus sum [I became all things to everyone].

While they made significant inroads, the Blackrobes (so called for the cassocks they wore) faced serious cultural impasses.

Dr. Pat McNamara, an Archival Manager for the Archdiocese of New York and a Professor of Church History at St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, put in context these Jesuits and the Huron and Iroquois among whom they lived and died.
_______________________________________________________________________
Wiki-image by Tango7174 of a mural in Midland, Ontario, is used according to the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.