Charles de Foucauld

Uncommon card · No. 194875

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...

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