by Patrick J. Buchanan – November 24, 1997

That God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ — that he was crucified, died and rose again to redeem mankind — is the core belief of Roman Catholicism.

To testify to those truths and spread that faith, French Jesuits were among the first Europeans to come to an American wilderness to convert the Indians. The stories of heroes like Fr. Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, Jean de Brebeuf and the other North American martyrs canonized in 1930 were once taught in all parochial schools.