Francis Xavier Pierz

Portrait of Francis Pierz from the book about his life written by Florentin Hrovat in 1887

Francis Xavier Pierz (Slovene: Franc Pirc or Franc Pirec; German: Franz Pierz) (November 20, 1785 – January 22, 1880) was a Slovenian-American Roman Catholic priest and missionary to the Ottawa and Ojibwe Indians in present-day Michigan, Wisconsin, Ontario, and Minnesota. Because his letters convinced numerous Catholic German Americans to settle in Central Minnesota after the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851,[1] Fr. Pierz is referred to as the "Father of the Diocese of Saint Cloud."[2]

  1. ^ We are all ‘living stones,’ descendants of immigrants, by Marilyn Salzl Brinkman, Sartell, St. Stephen, and St. Joseph Newsleaders, 21 September 2017.
  2. ^ Furlan (1952), page 3.