God's Explorers

A Television Documentary by Susan Cardinal

The Zealous Pioneers

The missionary pioneers were proud members of a zealous religious order formed on the heels of the French Revolution. Charged by their founder Eugene de Mazenod in 1826 to renew the people’s faith in the Roman Catholic Church, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate dedicated their lives to evangelizing the poor. For an Oblate there would be no greater love than this.

The Oblates were fuelled by the 19^th Century conviction that the New World needed saving from itself. To be civilized meant being Catholic and to be Catholic meant being civilized - and European. Journeying from the Old World to the New World, the Oblates set about constructing a Christian society of Indians in the wilderness. In so doing, they earned a reputation for being the "specialists of the most difficult missions."

The Oblates reached the Arctic Circle in the 1860s. It was a stunning accomplishment. They endured enormous hardship and suffering to establish a Catholic beachhead in the North. They were God’s soldiers, fighting a Christian battle to save souls.              

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God's Explorers premiered on 

History Television Canada 

Wednesday, January 2, 2002

9PM ET/PT 

"The Church was loved by the people. The Church was powerful. But we hit the Titanic with modern society"

Bishop Denis Croteau, omi

Bishop of the Mackenzie Valley in "God's Explorers"

omi - Oblates of Mary Immaculate

God's Explorers' funding agencies and broadcasters