Welcome Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pierre and Philadelphia Archbishop Perez!
Archbishop Nelson Perez and Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre will join Saint Helena Vietnamese Community on Sunday, November 15th at the 9:30am Mass to remember the 117 Vietnamese Martyrs. The Vietnamese Martyrs fall into several groupings, those of the Dominican and Jesuit missionary era of the 17th century, those killed in the politically inspired persecutions of the 19th century, and those martyred during the Communist purges of the 20th century. A representative sample of only 117 martyrs — including 96 Vietnamese, 11 Spanish Dominicans, and 10 French members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP)) — were beatified on four separate occasions: 64 by Pope Leo XIII on May 27, 1900, eight by Pope Pius X on May 20, 1906, 20 by Pope Pius X on May 2, 1909, 25 by Pope Pius XII on April 29, 1951. All these 117 Vietnamese Martyrs were canonized on June 19, 1988. A young Vietnamese Martyr, Andrew Phú Yên, was beatified in March, 2000 by Pope John Paul II.
