Martyrs of Vietnam

The one hundred and seventeen canonized martyrs were chosen from a much larger multitude of Christians persecuted in Vietnam. According to the official Vatican notice, from the 17th to the 19th century, the Trịnh and then Nguyễn dynasties promulgated about fifty edicts against Christians between 1625 and 1886, and the total number of victims is estimated at approximately 130,000, with the broadest sources going up to 300,000. The persecutions of the 19th century, the deadliest, were carried out under the emperors Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị, and then Tự Đức. The tortures were varied and often atrocious: beheading, strangulation, burning at the stake, quartering, or death in prison after long suffering. The group brings together foreign pastors from Spain and France as well as indigenous priests and laypeople, a sign that the young Vietnamese Church had already produced its own witnesses. Among the laypeople is a single woman, Agnes Lê Thị Thành, a mother. Andrew Dũng-Lạc, a diocesan priest whose apostolic life was particularly fruitful, was chosen to give his name to the entire group.

The holiness recognized in these martyrs stems from the firmness of their faith in the face of death. Many had the opportunity to escape torture by trampling on the cross or by renouncing Christ, and chose instead to remain faithful. The constancy of Andrew Dung-Lac, arrested, ransomed by his parishioners, forced to change his name and location to continue his ministry, then arrested again and beheaded, illustrates this perseverance. Among his companions, some laypeople, catechists, and fathers of families endured long imprisonments and torture before dying. During the canonization, John Paul II emphasized that their martyrdom had crowned a remarkably fruitful apostolic life and that they had responded without reservation to the call of Christ, thus founding the Church in Vietnam. Their reputation for holiness, attested to from the moment of their death by the veneration of local Christian communities, has been passed down from generation to generation despite the clandestinity imposed by the persecutions.

The recognition of these martyrs took place in stages. Four successive beatifications preceded their canonization: sixty-four martyrs were beatified by Leo XIII on May 27, 1900, eight by Pius X on May 20, 1906, twenty by Pius X on May 2, 1909, and twenty-five by Pius XII on April 29, 1951. The causes of these one hundred and seventeen blessed were then united into a single cause by decree on April 18, 1986. Pope John Paul II canonized them all together in Rome on June 19, 1988: it was, for the number of people proclaimed saints on the same day, an unprecedented celebration. The following day, June 20, 1988, the Pope addressed the French and Spanish pilgrims who had come to Rome for the event. The common liturgical memorial is celebrated on November 24 in the General Roman Calendar, under the title of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, priest, and his companions, martyrs.

The Martyrs of Vietnam occupy a central place in the memory of the Vietnamese Catholic Church. By apostolic letter of December 14, 1990, John Paul II declared them patrons of Vietnam. The account of their fidelity takes up the ancient conviction, inherited from Tertullian, that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians: the Catholic community of Vietnam, one of the most vibrant in Asia, recognizes itself in their heritage. Their feast day on November 24 is solemnized in parishes in Vietnam as well as within the Vietnamese diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, where many parishes and associations bear their name. The group, by its very composition, unites the memory of European Dominican missionaries and the Paris Foreign Missions with that of indigenous priests and laypeople, testifying to the rooting of the faith in Vietnamese culture. The figure of Andrew Dung-Lac, a priest from a poor family who became an indefatigable pastor, remains a model of self-giving for the faithful.