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French priest and hermit, martyred in Algeria in 1916, is seen as a great figure of interreligious dialogue
Charles de Foucauld and former comrade in arms, in 1916 in Tamanrasset, Algeria.
By La Croix International staff | Vatican City
Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Charles De Foucauld, considered to be one of the pioneers of interreligious dialogue, during a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on May 15, 2022.
The announcement was made November 9 by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Charles de Foucauld will be canonized along with six other Blesseds*.
It follows the Ordinary Public Consistory past May, when the pope authorized the canonizations, without setting a date for the ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Charles de Foucauld, born in 1858 in Strasbourg, France, was an aristocrat and religious, whose work and writings led to the founding of the Congregation of the Little Brothers of Jesus.
During his adventurous life, he was a Cavalry Officer in the French Army, and then an explorer and geographer before becoming a Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg in Algeria's Sahara Desert.
He was martyred in 1916 "in hatred of the faith".
Blessed de Foucauld lost his faith during his adolescence. However, during a trip to Morocco, he saw how Muslims expressed their faith, so he returned to the Church.
His rediscovery of his Christian faith prompted him to join Trappist monasteries for seven years in France and Syria, before choosing to live a life of prayer and adoration alone.
After his ordination to the priesthood in 1901, he chose to live among the poor and finally settled in Tamanrasset, Algeria, until 1916, when he was killed by a band of marauders.
At the time of his death only a 'Union' of barely 50 people, priests and laymen continued functioning very informally, linked solely by the vocation to live as isolated missionaries in the world.
Charles de Foucauld, who was beatified in 2005 by Benedict XVI, is still a source of inspiration to many Christians.
Now, no less than 20 institutes and religious fraternities – priests as well as laymen – mostly set up soon after his death, each one interpreting the legacy according to its own sensibility – are keeping his spirituality alive throughout the world.
Supporting the destitute is a way of life for the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of Jesus, founded by Fr. Voillaume and Madeleine Hutin, who were both touched by personality of Charles de Foucauld.
Even before Vatican II, their spirituality marked a major shift in evangelization to living among the poor in remote areas.
Charles de Foucauld is a great figure of that dialogue through his apostolate of prayer, silence and friendship with his Muslim brothers and sisters.
*The others to be canonized are:
Blessed Lazarus (Devasahayam Pillai). Blessed Lazarus was a Brahmin of the Nair caste in India. Converted to Catholicism by a Jesuit priest in 1745, Devasahayam Pillai took the name Lazarus when he became a Christian.
In his preaching, he insisted on the equality of all peoples. This aroused the hatred of the higher classes and he was arrested and shot 1749.
Blessed César de Bus, was ordained in 1582 in Avignon. He was profoundly affected by the life and writings of Saint Charles Borromeo and worked as a catechist in Aix-en-Provence during times of turmoil following the French Wars of Religion.
He founded the orders of the Ursulines of Province and the Fathers of Christian Doctrine (Doctrinarians). The Fathers were disbanded during the French Revolution but an Italian branch of the Doctrinarian Fathers continues today with houses in Italy, France and Brazil.
Blessed Luigi Maria Palazzolo, a northern Italian parish priest, dedicated his life to abandoned, orphaned and neglected children. Together with the Venerable Maria Teresa Gabrieli, he founded the Sisters of the Poor, an Order that continues to care for and educate girls.
Blessed Giustino Maria Russolillo, a 20th-century Italian priest, is the founder of the Society of Divine Vocations (Vocationists) which encouraged and supported those discerning a call to the priesthood and religious life. They continue their work in many countries.
Blessed Maria Francesca di Gesù entered a community of women religious at the beginning of the 20th century and became the superior and formation director of the group, giving life to the Institute of the Capuchin Sisters of Mother Rubatto.
Together with some Sisters, she went as a missionary to Uruguay and to Argentina. During her work in Latin America, she was asked to begin a mission in the rain forest.
Blessed Maria Domenica Mantovani is the co-founder and first Superior General of the order of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family who can be found in Italy, Switzerland, Albania as well as in African and Latin American nations.
They are dedicated to serving children and youth, families, priests, the elderly and the disabled in parishes.
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