St. Peter Chanel

A French Marist priest sent in 1837 to the Pacific island of Futuna. After three difficult years he had won few converts but the chief's son. When the chief learned his heir intended to be baptized, he sent warriors who clubbed Peter to death — making him the first martyr of Oceania. Within a year of his death the entire island was Christian.

Born in 1803 near Belley in eastern France, Peter Chanel was a parish priest of such gentleness that his parishioners wept when he left for the missions. On Futuna he lived in extreme poverty, learned the local language, and tended the sick with quiet patience, winning the people's affection even as the chief grew hostile.

His martyrdom on April 28, 1841, accomplished what his preaching alone could not. The chief's own son was among the first baptized, and the faith took root so deeply that Futuna remains overwhelmingly Catholic to this day. Peter Chanel was canonized in 1954 as the patron saint of Oceania.