Peter Chanel
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Peter Chanel (1803 - 1841) was a missionary, priest, and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church, where he is a saint and the first martyr of Oceania (the South Pacific).
Chanel was born in Cuet, near Belley, France. His piety and intelligence attracted the attention of the local priest, and he was put into church-sponsored education. He followed this with seminary college and was ordained. His first assignment was a run-down parish, which he revitalized in three years.
In 1831, he joined the new Society of Mary (the Marists), who concentrated on missionary work. Instead of being selected as a missionary, however, the Marists used his talents as a professor at the Seminary of Belley, where he stayed for five years. In 1836, the Marists were allowed to send missionaries to the territory of the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) in the Pacific Ocean. Chanel was made the superior of a band of missionaries.
The missionaries split up upon arrival, and Peter Chanel went to the island of Futuna, accompanied by a French laybrother Marie Nizier and an English layman named Thomas Boog. They were initially well received by the island's king, Niuliki. Once the missionaries learned the local language and began preaching directly to the people, the king grew restive. Christianity would take away his prerogatives as high priest and king. When the king's son sought to be baptized, the king sent his warriors to kill the head of the missionary group. On April 28, 1841, Peter Chanel was clubbed to death.
His martyrdom accomplished his missionary work, however, and within a few years the entire island had converted.
He is the patron saint of "Oceania," and his feast day in the Roman Catholic Church is April 28.
Categories: Saints | Martyrs | 1830s
