Goupil, Rene

Possibly hard of hearing rather than deaf. Was first a surgeon, then entered a Jesuit novitate in 1639 in Paris, but had to withdraw because he had become deaf and they would not accept deafness in a priest candidate. He instead became a layman working with Jesuit missionaries in Canada, 1640-1642. He and other Jesuits were caught in a war between Huron and Iroquois (Mohawk) Indians and captured by the latter. A few days later, he was killed when an Indian saw him making the sign of the cross over a Mohawk child. Goupil and 7 other martyred Jesuits were canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930.