Bressani, Francesco Giuseppe
Bressani, Francesco Giuseppe
(1612 -1672 ) Jesuit missionary, born Rome; died Florence. He labored for many years among the Canadian Algonquins and Hurons. In 1644 he was seized by the Iroquois and cruelly tortured, but was finally ransomed by the Dutch at Fort Orange. The narrative of his captivity is one of the classic documents of the Jesuit Relations.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Bressani, Francesco Giuseppe
An Indian missionary, born in Rome, 6 May, 1612; died at Florence, 9 September, 1672. He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus, 15 August, 1626 and studied at Rome and Clermont, teaching before his ordination at Sezza, Tivoli, and Paris. On his arrival in America he was assigned to the spiritual care of the French at Quebec, but the following year was sent to the Algonquins at Three Rivers. In April, 1644, on the way to the Huron Mission, he was captured by the Iroquois and cruelly tortured by them, at intervals, for over two months. He was at length ransomed by the Dutch at Fort Orange, and sent to France, where he arrived in November, 1644. In the following year he was again in Canada and labored zealously on the Huron Mission until its destruction by the Iroquois four years later. He continued, however, to minister to the scattered and fugitive Hurons. He was also stationed for a time at Quebec, where he occasionally officiated at the church. In November 1650, Bressani’s failing health and the meager resources of the mission obliged him to return to Italy, where he spent many years as a preacher and missionary, dying at Florence. Bressani wrote the “Breve Relatione d’alcune Missioni. . .nella Nuova Francia” (Macerata, 1653) which was translated into French by Father Martin, S.J. (Montreal, 1852).
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Thwaites, Jesuit Relations (Cleveland, 1897), XXIII, 326, 327; Michaud, Biog. Univ., V; Sommervogel, II.
EDWARD P. SPILLANE
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Bressani, Francesco Giuseppe
an Italian missionary, was born at Rome in 1612. He entered the Society of Jesus at the age of fifteen, went to Canada in 1644, and was on his way to the Huroi Indians, when (April 1644) he fell into the hands of the Mohawks, who subjected him to mutilations and torments, and after four months’ suffering sold him to the Dutch at Fort Orange. The latter treated him kindly, and sent him to France. Bressani returned to Canada in July, 1645, and labored for five years among the Hurons, that is, until the extinction of the Huron mission. In 1650 he was recalled to Italy, and devoted many years to establishing missions. He died in Florence, September 9, 1672. Bressani wrote a history of his mission (Macerata, 1653; a French translation, with biography and notes, was published in Montreal, 1852). See De Courcy and Shea, Hist. of the Cath. Church in the United States, pages 311, 312; Shea, Cath. Missions, pages 193-212; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.