VIETNAM

The general title of the chapter is Vietnam, but this is only for easier reference today. At the time of the martyrs the terminology was quite different. The area roughly corresponding to northern Vietnam was called Tonkin; the central area was Annam; the southern region was Cochin China. Thus all the records speak of "the Tonkin martyrs," "the Annamite kings," etc. With this understanding "Vietnam" and "Vietnamese" will be the terms here.

The Vietnamese have a total of ninety-six canonized martyrs and one blessed. They died between 1644 and 1883. Thirty-seven were priests; twenty-six were secular priests, eleven were Dominicans. Sixty were of the laity, of whom one was a woman.

Although sporadic persecutions occurred almost from the beginning of Christianity around 1615, and the first Vietnamese, a catechist named Andrew, was martyred in 1644, the two fiercest periods were under the kings Minh Mang, from 1820 to 1841, and Tu Duc, 1847 to 1883. As French influence in Cochin China declined after 1832, the emperor tried to exclude all foreign missioners and demanded that Vietnamese Catholics should apostatize. Resistance to all of this reached the heroic.
Why did the Vietnamese rulers rage so fiercely against the Christians? Leaving aside for the moment personal motives, they consistently invoked two reasons: the traditions and spirit of their ancestors and the love of country. Following the Christian way, they claimed, meant abandoning their religious legacy and submitting themselves to foreigners. These accusations were considered at length in the process of canonization; namely, "Was the determining motive really hatred of the faith? or did the kings decree execution for political enemies?" In the final analysis no doubt remained. Despite the complexities, the Christians were martyred for Christ and the faith.

One example of these arguments is evident when a Christian deacon dialogues with a learned mandarin. The mandarin begins,
Let Europeans follow the religion of Jesus, that is good for them. But you, Annamites, ought to follow that of your country. To leave the national religion in order to adopt a foreign one, that is to be a bad citizen. Even more, it is to be rebellious and liable to punishment. It is to disobey the laws of the State and our sovereign, who forbids us to follow any other religion except his. The Vietnamese deacon replies,
Our religion is nowhere a stranger. It is not circumscribed in any one point of the universe. It is for all peoples and all cultures, because it is of God. You blame us for not following the national religion, but what is that religion? The learned have their own, the religion of Confucius, but it is at bottom only a pure ceremonial; it treats only of morality and of rites. It is silent about what is more important for us to know, namely, what man becomes when this terrestrial habitation is dissolved. Or is the national religion that of the ordinary folk? But each one for his inclination can take the object which pleases him.

From 1841 to 1847 the persecution softened; then in 1847 it became violent again. Although in June 1862 a treaty between France and Annam guaranteed religious freedom to Catholics, persecutions continued in some way or other, especially in north and central Vietnam.
It is estimated that between 1832 and 1883 perhaps 300,000 Vietnamese suffered death or extreme hardship as their villages and homes were destroyed. Most were beheaded, or died in prison from malnutrition or torture.