Charles De Foucauld

French adventurer, also known by his religious name Charles of Jesus, who gained fame with his expeditions in Morocco; he was canonized as a Catholic saint in 2022.

As a youth, he had been known as a wastrel, dissolute, greedy and lazy. He became a cavalry officer in the French Army, then an explorer and geographer, and finally a Catholic priest, a hermit who lived among the Tuareg in the Sahara in Algeria. His inspiration and writings led to the founding of the Little Brothers of Jesus among other religious congregations. He was shot to death by tribesmen on 1 December 1916 and is considered by the Church to be a martyr.

De Foucauld was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 13 November 2005. On 27 May 2020, Pope Francis cleared the way for his canonization at a future date. He was canonized on 15 May 2022.