Jean de Brébeuf was canonized by Pope Pius XI on 29 June 1930, and proclaimed one of the patron saints of Canada by Pope Pius XII on 16 October 1940. A contemporary newspaper account of the canonization declares: "Brébeuf, the 'Ajax of the mission', stands out among them made saints with him because of his giant frame, a man of noble birth, of vigorous passions tamed by religion," describing both the man and his defining drive according to formal terms of hagiography.