Fr. Campbell ’87 Commemorates 400th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Jesuits to New England

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Jesuits in New England. In the summer and fall of 1611, Pierre Biard, a French Jesuit priest explored the rivers of what is now the state of Maine. At that time, he offered the first recorded mass on an island at the entrance of the Kennebec River on Nov. 1, 1611. That island is believed to be Swan Island. Over this past summer, Rev. William R. Campbell, S.J., ’87, president of Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine, offered mass on that same island to commemorate that event. Holy Cross is honoring “Jesuits and Colleagues at Work” with a yearlong series of events this year.

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