From Season to Season

François Laval was born in 1623 into one of the most distinguished families in France. He received the tonsure at age twelve (a symbol of his status as a cleric) and, later, he became a canon of the cathedral of Evreux. Following his ordination in 1647, he was named archdeacon of Evreux. At the age of thirty he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of present-day Vietnam, but he was unable to take up residence there because of the wars that plagued the country during that period; he resigned from that office one year later. In 1658, François was appointed Vicar Apostolic of New France. He arrived in Canada in May 1659, and reached Quebec one month later. During the next thirty years of his life he founded parishes, fought against the exploitation of the Native Americans, and opposed the Gallicanism of the civil authorities. He founded the first seminary in New France in 1662 and in 1674 he was appointed as first bishop of Quebec. François died in 1708 at the age of eighty-five. Saint Fr...

Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But the Apostles went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.—Mark 16:19-20 Since his election in March 2013, Pope Francis has, of course, continued the millennia-old tradition of popes canonizing saints. However, he has broken with tradition by waiving the requisite second miracle for some of these holy women and men. As he observed in his recent flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines (on January 15), he specifically chose to move forward with the canonization of some of these saints because of their work as evangelizers. These specially chosen saints include the Counter-Reformation era Jesuit Peter Faber , the Brazilian missionary José de Anchieta , Ursuline Sister Marie of theIncarnation and the bishop François de Montmorency-Laval , who could be honored as the founders of the Catholic Churc...