Pierre Cholonec

Pierre Cholenec (June 29, 1641 – October 30, 1723) was a French Jesuit missionary and biographer in New France. He ministered to First Nations in present-day Canada, particularly at the village of Kahnawake south of Montreal. He served as superior of the Jesuit residence in Montréal. He is known for writing multiple biographies about Kateri Tekakwitha which contributed to her canonization in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Early life and education Cholenec was born in Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Diocese of Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Finistère, in the west of Brittany. He attended Catholic schools.

After completing his education in seminary, Cholenec entered the Society of Jesus in Paris, 8 October 1659 at the age of eighteen. Also during that period, he studied philosophy for three years at Collège Henri IV in La Flèche. Cholenec departed for Canada in August 1674. Baptismal names in Christian traditions link the convert to ancestors, often the converts patron saint. The patron saint is viewed as a protector and spiritual model. Cholenec also wrote multiple biographies (or more accurately, hagiographies) regarding Tekakwitha.

Father Cholenec completed an account of her life in 1696. It was published in the Lettres édifiantes (1781) and (1839). A translation is given in Kip, Jesuit Missions (New York, 1846). This is an abridgment of a more extended biography, which is preserved in the archives of the Jesuits in Montreal.

Cholenec also wrote about miracles and healings that had occurred in Tekakwitha's name. One writing from Cholenec reads: "We have noticed that she usually heals the soul as well as the body of those who need such a double cure, even if they do not ask for it."

With regards to Cholenec's biographical accounts about Tekakwitha, not only did he write of her self mortification, the extraordinary events surrounding her death, the miracles that occurred in her name, but also her decision not to marry. Cholenec also exalted Tekakwitha because of her virgin status, and added the subtitle of "The First Iroquois Virgin" to his 1696 account "Life of Catherine Tegakouita."

Later years Cholenec was appointed as the superior of the Jesuit residence in Montreal. He died there at the age of 82.