Charles de Foucauld

Charles de Foucauld, born as Charles Eugène, vicomte de Foucauld de Pontbriand (15 September 1858 – 1 December 1916), in religion Charles of Jesus, was a French monk, Catholic priest and hermit who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara in Algeria. He was also an explorer, geographer, ethnographer. Before joining the Trappists as a monk, he was a soldier in the 2nd Hussar Regiment. He was murdered by Bedouin bandits in 1916. His inspiration and writings led to the founding of a number of religious congregations inspired by his example. He was canonized in 2022.

Orphaned at the age of six, de Foucauld was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Colonel Beaudet de Morlet. He undertook officer training at the Saint-Cyr Military Academy. Upon graduating from the academy, he opted to join the cavalry. Ordained in Viviers in 1901, he decided to settle in the Algerian Sahara at Béni Abbès. His ambition was to form a new congregation, but nobody joined him. Taking the religious name Charles of Jesus, he later moved to Tamanghasset and lived with the Berbers, adopting a new apostolic approach, preaching not through sermons, but through his example.

On 1 December 1916, de Foucauld was killed by a bandit at his hermitage. He was quickly considered to be a martyr of faith and was the object of veneration following the success of the biography written by René Bazin. The foundation of newer religious congregations, spiritual families, and a renewal of eremitic life are inspired by Charles de Foucauld's life and writings. His beatification process started in 1927, eleven years after his death. He was declared venerable on 24 April 2001 by Pope John Paul II, then beatified on 13 November 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI. On 27 May 2020, the Vatican announced that a miracle had been attributed to de Foucauld's intercession. De Foucauld was canonized by Pope Francis on 15 May 2022.