About Us
Chronology
From the foundation of the Society of Jesus to the Jesuits of Canada
May 20, 1521
Iñigo de Loyola is injured in Pamplona.
May 20, 1521
August 15, 1534
First vows in Montmartre by Ignatius Loyola, François Xavier, Pierre
August 15, 1534
1536
Paschase Broët, Jean Codure and Claude Jay join the group of first companions.
1536
June 24, 1537
Ordination in Venice of St. Ignatius and those companions who are not yet priests.
June 24, 1537
September 3, 1539
Pope Paul III gives his oral approval to the project of founding a religious order. Digitus Dei Est Hic. (“The finger of God is here”)
September 3, 1539
March 16, 1540
Saint Francis Xavier leaves Rome for India.
March 16, 1540
September 27, 1540
Pope Paul III approves the Society of Jesus through the bull Regimini Militantis Ecclesiae.
September 27, 1540
April 22, 1541
Saint Ignatius and his companions make their vows as Jesuits at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.
April 22, 1541
July 30, 1548
Pope Paul III approves the Spiritual Exercises.
July 30, 1548
July 27, 1609
Beatification by Pope Paul V of Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier.
July 27, 1609
January 26, 1611
Pierre Biard and Ennemond Massé set sail from Dieppe, France, to Port-Royal, Acadia.
January 26, 1611
May 22, 1611
Arrival at Port-Royal of Fathers Pierre Biard and Ennemond Massé.
May 22, 1611
1616
Father Biard begins writing the Jesuit Relations.
1616
March 12, 1622
Canonization of Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier by Pope Gregory XV.
March 12, 1622
April 26, 1625
Jean de Brébeuf and four companions leave Dieppe for Quebec City with the goal of restoring a Jesuit mission in Canada.
April 26, 1625
1628
The Jesuits are expelled from the territory when the English temporarily occupy New France.
1628
1632
With the return of the colony in French hands, this year marks the beginning of the third Jesuit missionary enterprise in New France.
1632
July, 1634
Accompanied by two Jesuits and seven other Frenchmen, Jean de Brebeuf returns to Huronia and becomes the first Jesuit superior. He becomes the superior of the mission of Saint-Joseph I, near Toanché, in Huronia.
- Foundation of the Jesuit College in Quebec City. This is the first facility of its kind in North America, predating Harvard by two years.
July, 1634
1639
Beginning of the construction of Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons.
1639
June 2, 1641
The Jesuit Paul LeJeune founded the Saguenay mission in Tadoussac.
June 2, 1641
May 17, 1642
First Mass celebrated at Ville-Marie by Father Barthélémy Vimont, the day of the founding of the city.
May 17, 1642
July 16, 1647
The Jesuit Jean de Quen discovers Lac Saint-Jean.
July 16, 1647
March 16-17, 1649
Death of Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant at Saint- Ignace (Taenhatentaron).
March 16-17, 1649
June 14, 1649
Father Ragueneau takes refuge with the surviving Huron on Ahoendoe Island where he will stay for a year before returning to Quebec.
June 14, 1649
1663
ounding of the Séminaire de Québec, which at this time includes only the Major Seminary.
1663
January 3, 1665
The first Jesuit born in Canada, Noël Juchereau de la Ferte, a medical graduate, enters the novitiate of the Jesuits in Paris as a brother.
January 3, 1665
1667
Establishment of the Kentake Mission: The Jesuit Pierre Raffeix brings together a group of Native Americans from different nations and founds the Saint-François- Xavier mission in the seigneury of La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine.
1667
June 28, 1672
Father Charles Albanel reaches Hudson Bay by travelling through the Saguenay region.
June 28, 1672
1676
The Iroquois mission, Kentaké, is relocated and renamed Kahnawake.
1676
April 17, 1680
Death to Kahnawake of Kateri Tekakwitha.
April 17, 1680
February 10, 1763
Signature of the Treaty of Paris, which ceded Canada to Great Britain.
February 10, 1763
March, 1764
King Louis XV decrees the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Kingdom of France.
March, 1764
December 20, 1766
Priestly ordination of Brother Jean-Joseph Casot, who will be the last Jesuit of the Old Regime present in Canada.
December 20, 1766
July 21, 1773
Clement XIV signs the brief Dominicus ac Redemptor which, from August 16th, suppresses the Society of Jesus everywhere in the world, as a result of pressure exerted on Rome by the governments of Portugal, Spain and Spain. France.
July 21, 1773
1774
In concert with Governor Carleton, the bishop of Quebec, Jean-Olivier Briand, refuses to obey the order of Pope Clement XIV to suppress the Society of Jesus. This is how the Jesuits of Canada were able to keep their name and their property.
1774
July 16, 1791
Death in Sandwich (now Windsor, Ontario) of Father Pierre Potier, the last Jesuit of the early Society still working with the First Nations.
July 16, 1791
March 3, 1800
Father Jean-Joseph Casot dies in Quebec at the age of 72. With him, the Society of Jesus dies in Canada.
March 3, 1800
August 8, 1814
The Jesuit order is restored by Pope Pius VII, which will enable them to return to Lower Canada.
August 8, 1814
1839
Father Pierre Chazelle arrives in Canada to preach the annual retreat of the priests of the diocese of Montreal and also to test the waters as to the eventual return of the Jesuits to Canada.
1839
1841
Bishop Ignace Bourget, bishop of Montreal, writes a memoir that will be quickly titled “The Call to the Jesuits.”
1841
May 11, 1842
Arrival at Laprairie des Fathers Pierre Chazelle, Félix Martin, Paul Luiset, Dominique du Ranquet, Joseph Hanipaux, Remi Tellier as well as the brother brothers Joseph Jennesseaux, Pierre Tupin and Emmanuel Brenans.
May 11, 1842
September 9, 1843
Augustin Régnier, a graduate of Saint-Hyacinthe College, is the first novice to join the new Society in Canada.
September 9, 1843
October 17, 1843
Entry to the novitiate of the second candidate: Mr. Henri Hudon, from College Saint-Anne de la Pocatière.
October 17, 1843
1843
Father Dominique du Ranquet in Walpole Island, near Windsor, becomes the first of the new Jesuits missioned to the First Nations.
1843
July 9, 1844
Jean-Pierre Choné arrives in Wikwemikong, Ontario, to establish a Jesuit mission there.
July 9, 1844
July 31, 1844
A decree of Father General detaches the mission of Upper Canada from that of Lower Canada. Father Chazelle becomes Superior of Upper Canada and Father Martin, Superior of Lower Canada.
July 31, 1844
1844
Establishment of the Jesuit Mission Headquarters in Wikwemikong, Ontario, in the Manitoulin Islands. This is the oldest unbroken mission in Canada to date.
1844
September 17, 1845
Entry of the first Canadian-English Jesuit, Richard Baxter, to the novitiate of Montreal.
September 17, 1845
April 26, 1850
Official opening of Collège Sainte-Marie.
April 26, 1850
1854
Fathers John Holzer and Gasper Matoga set up a mission in Guelph, Ontario, to serve the Germans there and other settlers.
1854
1863
The New York-Canada mission is attached to the new Province of Champagne in France.
1863
December 3, 1865
Blessing of the Gesù Church, Chapel of Collège Sainte-Marie and public chapel.
December 3, 1865
1879
The Mission of Canada is separated from New York and is attached to the English province.
1879
October 5, 1880
Father Henri Hudon becomes the first superior of the Independent Mission of Canada.
October 5, 1880
July 31, 1885
Official opening of the Scholasticate of the Immaculate Conception.
July 31, 1885
October 13, 1887
The Mission of Canada separates from the English province to become independent.
October 13, 1887
1903
The Jesuits are recalled in the mission Saint-François-Xavier, Kahnawake.
1903
August 15, 1907
The Mission of Canada becomes the Province of Canada. The new Province of Canada supports the Alaska Mission.
August 15, 1907
1912
Seventeen English-Canadian novices from Montreal move to Guelph, Ontario, to found the Novitiate Saint-Stanislas.
1912
1918
Foundation of the first Canadian Jesuit Mission overseas in Suchow, China.
1918
June 27, 1924
Division of the Province of Canada into the Vice Province of Upper Canada and the Province of Lower Canada.
June 27, 1924
June 21, 1925
Beatification of Fathers Brébeuf, Jogues and their six companions.
June 21, 1925
1926
Opening of the Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs in Midland, Ontario.
1926
June 29, 1930
Canonization of the Canadian Martyrs.
June 29, 1930
September 6, 1930
Founding of Regis College, the Jesuit Seminary in Toronto.
September 6, 1930
July 1, 1934
Priestly ordination, by Most Reverend Joseph-Guillaume Forbes, Archbishop of Ottawa, of the first Iroquois Jesuit, Father Michel Karhaienton Jacobs at the Mission Saint-François-Xavier in Kahnawake.
July 1, 1934
March 12, 1939
The Vice Province of Upper Canada becomes the province of Upper Canada.
March 12, 1939
October 16, 1940
Pope Pius XII proclaims the Canadian Martyrs second bosses of Canada.
October 16, 1940
January 3, 1943
Kateri Tekakwitha is declared Venerable.
January 3, 1943
1946
The Province of Upper Canada accepts its first overseas mission to Darjeeling, India, which eventually will expand to include Bhutan and Nepal.
1946
1953
The Holy See gives the Jesuits in Canada charge of the Interdiocesan Seminary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
1953
1956
Return of the Jesuits to northern Haiti, in Quartier-Morin.
1956
1959
The Jesuits open in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the first retreat house, Villa Manrèse.
1959
1964
The province of Lower Canada is divided into two sections: Quebec and Montreal.
1964
May 22, 1965
Father Pedro Arrupe is elected Superior General of the Jesuits.
May 22, 1965
1967
Arrival of Pedro Arrupe. This is the first visit of a General to Canada.
1967
1968
The first Canadian Jesuit arrives in Zambia to join this mission.
1968
July 31, 1968
The Province of French Canada is born of the reunification of the provinces of Quebec and Montreal.
July 31, 1968
1986
The first Canadian Jesuit arrives in Jamaica to join this mission from the province of New England.
1986
August 19, 1994
The novices of Upper Canada move to the Interprovincial Novitiate in St. Paul, Minnesota.
August 19, 1994
2001
Father Martin Royackers is murdered in his parish in Annotto Bay, Jamaica, where he worked to support poor farmers in search of suitable land.
2001
2002
Cooperation of the two Jesuit provinces of Canada at WYD in Toronto: The Ania program: Friends in the Lord, offered to youth served by apostolates of the Society of Jesus throughout the world.
2002
2004
Joint meetings of the councils of Canada’s two provincial superiors begin, at the rate of two meetings a year, to explore closer apostolic collaboration between the two provinces.
2004
2006
The Province of Upper Canada officially changes its name to Jesuits in English Canada.
2006
2008
Eight novices enter a new common and bilingual novitiate, serving the French and English speaking provinces.
2008
2009
The archives of the two Canadian Jesuit provinces unite in Montreal to form a single entity: the Jesuit Archives in Canada.
2009
2011
The Jesuits begin an entire year of celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the presence of the order in Canada.
2011
May, 2012
At the joint meeting of the councils of the two provinces, a prayerful review of the lights and shadows of the story of the Society of Jesus in Canada gives rise to the desire to form a single bilingual province for Canada.
May, 2012
June, 2013
A second community discernment deepens the desire for a new province.
June, 2013
Autumn, 2013
The first common catalogue of works and communities is published.
Autumn, 2013
2014
Creation of the preparatory committee for the new province.
2014
2016
Common process of discernment of all Jesuits in Canada, to prepare the appointment of the superior of the new province.
- First joint meeting of community superiors from both provinces
2016
2017
First joint meeting of directors of all Jesuit works in Canada.
2017
May, 2018
Visit of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Arturo Sosa, who officially announces the creation of the new province of Canada, during a celebration at the Gésu in Montreal.
May, 2018
July 31, 2018
Birth of the Province of Canada.
July 31, 2018
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