Joseph Marchand (17 August 1803 – 30 November 1835) was a French missionary in Vietnam and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.[1] He is now a Catholic saint, celebrated on 30 November.

Saint

Joseph Marchand
Martyrdom of Joseph Marchand
Martyr
Born(1803-08-17)17 August 1803
Passavant, France
Died30 November 1835(1835-11-30) (aged 32)
Huế, Vietnam
Beatified27 May 1900
Canonized19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Feast30 November
24 November (with the Vietnamese Martyrs)

Personal life

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Joseph Marchand

Marchand was born in Passavant, in the Doubs department of France. At the age of 25, he joined the Paris Foreign Mission with the primary goal of evangelizing countries in Asia.

Vietnam

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In 1833, he was invited to join the Lê Văn Khôi revolt led by Lê Văn Khôi, son of the late governor of southern Vietnam Lê Văn Duyệt. He vowed to overthrow Emperor Minh Mạng and replace him with My Duong, the son of Minh Mạng's late elder brother Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh, who were both Catholics. Khoi appealed to other Catholics to join in overthrowing Minh Mạng and installing a Catholic emperor. They quickly seized the Citadel of Saigon in an uprising lasting two years. [citation needed]

In 1835, he was arrested for supposedly having been associated with the rebellion and later executed in Huế,[2] subsequently becoming a Catholic martyr after having his flesh pulled from his bones by tongs,[3] known as death by a thousand cuts.

Marchand was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988. His feast day is 30 November and his joint feast day with the Vietnamese Martyrs is 24 November.[1][4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Bunson, Matthew (2003), Encyclopedia of Saints, Our Sunday Visitor, p. 459, ISBN 1-931709-75-0.
  2. ^ Vo, Nghia M (2011), Saigon: A History, p. 53, The six principal leaders were sent to Huế to be executed. Among them was the French missionary Marchand, accused of being the leader of the Catholic rebel group; Nguyễn Văn Trấm, the leader of the hồi lương who took the command of the revolt after Lê Văn Khôi's death in 1834; and Lưu Tín, the Chinese leader.
  3. ^ Bunson, Matthew; Bunson, Margaret (1999), John Paul II's Book of Saints, Our Sunday Visitor, p. 61, ISBN 0-87973-934-7.
  4. ^ "Saint Joseph Marchand". Patron Saints Index. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
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  • "Marchand", Archives (notice biographique) (in French), The Paris Foreign Missions Society, archived from the original on 2014-05-17, retrieved 2012-04-24.
  • "St Joseph Marchand", Nominis, CEF.
  • "St Joseph Marchan", Saints, SQPN.