Joseph Le Caron

Who was Joseph Le Caron?

Joseph Le Caron, O.M.R., was one of the four pioneer missionaries of Canada, and was the first missionary to the Hurons.

Born around 1586, Le Caron took Holy Orders and served as chaplain and tutor to the Duke of Orléans, the future King Henry IV of France, and his son the Dauphin. When the King died, Le Caron renounced any ecclesiastical advancement and joined the Recollects, a reform branch of the Order of Friars Minor who followed a strict life of poverty, with whom he made his profession in 1611.