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David Tobin Asselin, S.J. was born in Bromptonville, Quebec on May 21, 1922, and, following activity in the Loyola College contingent of the Canadian Officers Training Corps during World War II, he entered the St. Stanislaus Novitiate in Guelph, Ontario in July of 1942. He was exempted from the normal course of Jesuit studies because of his prior academic success, and instead underwent an expedited several years of studies between Guelph and the Jesuit Seminary in Toronto. He taught at Saint Mary’s High School in Halifax as well as Loyola High School in Montreal before his 1953 ordination.

In 1955, Father Asselin taught theology and directed the student chaplaincy at Loyola College, and was then named spiritual director of the Jesuit scholastics at the seminary in Toronto. He devoted much of his time to the study and implementation of Dutch Jesuit William Peters, S.J.’s interpretation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, which stressed traditional asceticism, and invited Father Peters to direct a retreat at Regis College in 1963. Subsequently, these interpretations were shared internationally, and Loyola House gained renown as a centre for Jesuit spirituality. Father Asselin went on to publish multiple interpretations of Scripture and the Spiritual Exercises. In 1969, however, a brain tumor was detected, and he passed away three years later.

John Joseph Barker, S.J. was born in Winnipeg on November 10, 1904, and entered the Society of Jesus in July of 1922 at the St. Stanislaus Novitiate in Guelph, Ontario. He proceeded to complete training between Guelph and Washington, followed by three years of teaching at the residential school in Spanish, Ontario. Barker was ordained in June of 1935 at Loyola College in Montreal, and proceeded to study Ojibway at the Holy Cross Mission in Wikwemikong, Ontario.

For the next twenty years, Father Barker was stationed at various posts around Northern Ontario, particularly at Spanish and along the north shore of Lake Huron but also including assignments at West Bay, Manitoulin Island, Cape Croker, Holy Cross Mission, and Garden River. As time progressed, poor health prevented Father Barker from his ministries; he spent the last fourteen years of service as hospital chaplain at the Sault Ste. Marie General Hospital, where he learned Italian in order to communicate with a broader reach of patients. He died of a heart attack in 1977.

Joseph Cadot, S.J. was born in St-Félix-de-Valois, Quebec on August 1, 1860, and after studies at Collège de Montréal and Collège Sainte-Marie, he entered the novitiate at Sault-au-Récollet in February of 1883. He completed his studies between Collège Sainte-Marie and Immaculée-Conception, including a teaching stint at the former, and was ordained to the priesthood in July of 1894.

Father Cadot served as Minister at Collège Sainte-Marie from 1895 to 1898 and worked as a spiritual director for young professionals. Throughout this time, however, he continued to request appointment to the Northern Ontario missions, and was finally sent to Sault Ste-Marie in 1903. Here, he worked in Steelton ministering to a working-class community of Italian and Slavic immigrants, most of whom were employed by the Algoma Steel Corporation. Father Cadot helped organize a new parish here and learned both English and Italian.

In 1904, Father Cadot relocated to Cape Croker Reserve on the Bruce Peninsula, where he would remain until 1931. Father Cadot learned Ojibwe and oversaw the communities at Saugeen, Christian Island, Rama, Moose Point, Lion’s Head, and Tobermory. He was an advocate for education and self-reliance of the youth there, looked after the maintenance of the church property, and helped provide and advocate for the church’s library and recreational facilities. In the 1920s, with the advent of the car, Father Cadot purchased his own and frequently travelled to his various mission sites; he earned the nickname Waiasseshkang, “the one who brings light to the heart and spirit.”

In 1931, Cadot relocated to Saugeen, then to Chippewa Hill from 1932 to 1937, at which point he retired to the Jesuit novitiate in Guelph. He died in 1947.

The Chippawas occupied the Saugeen and Huron Peninsula in the beginning of the 18th century. Chippawas communities also settled at Brooke (Owen Sound) during the 19th century, and then at Cape Croker. When Indigenous Catholic communities moved to Cape Croker, the Indian Department approached the Jesuit fathers, then stationed at Berlin, Ontario, and requested that a priest visit them. George Falhuber, S.J., arrived in the summer of 1857, and alongside Indigenous peoples, built a log church where the present church is located.

The Jesuit presence was sporadic in the subsequent years, but from 1860 until 1902, Jesuit missionaries located in Wikwemikong visited Cape Croker regularly. These missionaries came three or four times a year, while also visiting surrounding communities of the Bruce Peninsula. In 1902, Gaston J. Artus, S.J., was appointed to the mission at Cape Croker and subsequently established a more permanent Jesuit presence in the area. Joseph Cadot, S.J., replaced Father Artus and stayed in the region for twenty-seven years. In 1907, a stone church was erected. Indigenous peoples contributed to the building of the church, then named St. Mary’s. In 1931, Father Cadot moved to Saugeen and resided there until his retirement at the Jesuit Novitiate in 1936. The Cape Croker Mission included the activities of priests in the area. The St. John’s Catholic Church at Waubaushene was part of the activities of the Cape Croker Mission.