When I was at a National Cursillo Encounter a few years back, the Vietnamese Community presented a slide show presentation detailing the lives of the Martyrs of Vietnam including Saint Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions. It was a very moving display of their heroic lives.
Saint Andrew was born around 1795 in Bac Ninh, Vietnam a priest in the area of West Tonkin and he worked in the missions with the priests of the Foreign Mission Society of Paris. He was imprisoned and tortured in the persecutions of Minh-Meng. He beheaded on December 21, 1839 and died with Saint Peter Thi. He and over 100 of his companions were canonized on June 19, 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
Recording keeping was poor because the government did not care about those who were murdered, so there is not too much information on the martyrs.
“The Church in Vietnam is alive and vigorous, blessed with strong and faithful bishops, dedicated religious, and courageous and committed laypeople.... The Church in Vietnam is living out the gospel in a difficult and complex situation with remarkable persistence and strength.”
statement of three U.S. archbishops returning from Vietnam in January 1989
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