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Saint Peter Chanel

Priest and Martyr

Feast Day
April 28
Life
1803–1841
Canonized
1954
Order
Society of Mary (Marists)
Born
Cuet, Ain, France

Pierre Louis Marie Chanel was born on July 12, 1803, at Cuet in the diocese of Belley, France. Ordained priest in 1827, he served as parish priest at Crozet, where his ministry was distinguished by care for the sick and the poor.

In 1831 he entered the newly founded Society of Mary (Marists), formally approved by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836 with a particular mission to Oceania. Chanel was sent in the first Marist missionary expedition to the Pacific, led by Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pompallier. After two years of travel, he was assigned in November 1837 to the island of Futuna, then a small kingdom under the chief Niuliki, with one lay brother, Marie-Nizier Delorme.

For three and a half years he learned the Futunan language, taught the catechism, and gradually won the friendship of the people. As conversions grew, especially after the chief's son Meitala asked for baptism, Niuliki perceived the new religion as a threat to his authority. On April 28, 1841, a band sent by the chief attacked Chanel at his house and killed him with a club and an axe. He was the first Marist martyr.

Within two years of his death, the entire population of Futuna had received baptism. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on November 17, 1889, and canonized by Pope Pius XII on June 12, 1954, as the protomartyr of Oceania.

Saint Peter Chanel is the protomartyr of Oceania and a model of patient missionary witness. His three and a half years of language study, catechesis, and friendship with the Futunan people before his death exemplify the slow incarnational work that the Catholic missionary tradition has consistently preferred to forced conversion. The conversion of the entire population of Futuna within two years of his martyrdom is a particular witness to the principle articulated by Tertullian that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.

Patronages

Oceania · Futuna

Catholic Churches Named After Saint Peter Chanel

5 parishes on Catholic Church Times share Saint Peter Chanel's name. Find their Mass times, confession schedules, and adoration hours:

Sources