Biography
John Francis Regis
About John Francis Regis
John Francis Regis was born at Fontcouverte in southern France in 1597. He joined the Society of Jesus at Toulouse in 1616, studied for the priesthood, and later served in towns and villages across the south of France. The region had been scarred by religious conflict, and Regis's work included preaching, teaching children, hearing confessions, and visiting people in prison or poverty.
Rather than remaining in one parish, Regis traveled through difficult terrain to reach scattered communities. Jesuit accounts describe him gathering food and clothing for poor neighbors and giving particular help to women trying to leave prostitution. These activities belong to the memory of his practical pastoral care, though exact tallies and dramatic scenes in later retellings need stronger evidence before becoming structured events. His work was directed primarily toward people near him in France, not a foreign mission.
Regis died at Lalouvesc on December 31, 1640, according to the local Diocese of Viviers and the Society of Jesus; a Franciscan biography differs by one day. The older Roman Martyrology commemorates him on June 16, whereas Jesuit calendars celebrate him on July 2. His continuing place in those calendars remembers a priest whose ministry combined teaching with direct care for people who had little support.
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