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Peter Chanel

19th-century French Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr

Peter Louis Marie Chanel, SM (12 July – 28 April ), was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr. Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. He arrived on the island of Futuna in November Chanel was clubbed to death in April at the instigation of a chief upset because his son converted.

Life

Early years

Chanel was born in the hamlet of La Potière near Montrevel-en-Bresse, Ain département, France. Son of Claude-François Chanel and Marie-Anne Sibellas he was the fifth of eight children. From about the age of 7 to 12 he worked as a shepherd. The local parish priest persuaded his parents to allow Peter to attend a small school the priest had started.

After some local schooling, his piety and intelligence attracted the attention of a visiting priest from Cras, the abbé Trompier, who took over the boy's education at Cras in the autumn of He made his first communion on 23 March [1]

It was from that time that Chanel's attraction for the missions abroad began. His interest began when he read letters from missionaries to America sent back by Bishop Louis William Valentine Dubourg.

He later said, "It was that year that I formed the idea of going to the foreign missions." In he entered the minor seminary at Meximieux where he won several awards and class prizes in Latin, Christian doctrine, and oratory. He attended the Belley diocesan college in , and the major seminary at Brou in [2]

Chanel was ordained on 15 July [3] and spent a brief time as an assistant priest at Ambérieu-en-Bugey.

At Ambérieu he also read letters from a former curate from that parish who was at that time a missionary in India. There he met Claude Bret, who was to become his friend and also one of the first Marist Missionaries.

Biography st peter chanel church the gap Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. Chanel traveled first to the Canary Islands 8 January , where his friend, Claude Bret, caught a flu-like virus which led to his death at sea 20 March Retrieved 28 March Chanel's zeal was respected, and his care, particularly of the sick in the parish, [ 4 ] won the hearts of the locals.

The following year, Chanel applied to the Bishop of Belley for permission to go to the missions. His application was not accepted and instead, he was appointed for the next three years as parish priest of Crozet.[1] Chanel found his new parish in a deplorable state. On Sundays and feast days, the church was almost empty; the children idle, and left to themselves.

The priest went on a pilgrimage to Annecy, to the tomb of Francis de Sales who had once visited his parish.

Chanel's zeal was respected, and his care, particularly of the sick in the parish,[4] won the hearts of the locals. During this time, Chanel heard of a group of diocesan priests who were hopeful of starting a religious order to be dedicated to Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Marist and missionary

In , at the age of 28, Chanel joined the nascent Society of Mary (Marists),[1] who would concentrate on local missions and foreign missionary work. Instead of selecting him as a missionary, however, the Marists appointed him as the spiritual director at the seminary of Belley, where he stayed for five years.[4] In , he accompanied Jean-Claude Colin to Rome to seek approval of the nascent Society.

In , the Marists were asked to send missionaries to the territory of the southwest Pacific.[5] In return for eventual acceptance, the group were promised formal approbation, granted by Pope Gregory XVI. Chanel, professed with the other aspirants as Marist on 24 September , was made the superior of the band of seven Marist missionaries that set out on 24 December from Le Havre on the Delphine accompanied by the new Bishop of Maronea (Western Oceania), Jean-Baptiste Pompallier .[6] Chanel was not deterred by the dangers of such a long sea voyage.

Chanel traveled first to the Canary Islands (8 January ), where his friend, Claude Bret, caught a flu-like virus which led to his death at sea (20 March ). Next, Chanel traveled to Valparaíso, Chile (28 June), where the French Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ("Picpus Fathers"), who had care of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Oceania, had their base.

His third and fourth stops were in the Gambier Islands (13 September) and in Tahiti (21 September), where the group transferred to the ship Raiatea. In that ship, they set sail (23 October) to drop off two missionaries at Wallis, the main seat of the mission in Tonga. The missionaries arrived at Vava’u but were not welcome, and thus continued their journey to Futuna.

Chanel went to neighboring Futuna, accompanied by a French lay brother Marie-Nizier Delorme. They arrived on 8 November with an English Protestant layman named Thomas Boag, who had been resident on the island and had joined them at Tonga seeking passage to Futuna.[5]

Martyrdom

The group was initially well received by Futuna's king, Niuliki.

Chanel struggled to learn the language but eventually mastered it.

St peter chanel ca: Finally, after a long wait in Le Havre, the band set forth on Christmas eve. Article Talk. A few natives had been baptised while a few more were being instructed. Chanel, professed with the other aspirants as Marist on 24 September , was made the superior of the band of seven Marist missionaries that set out on 24 December from Le Havre on the Delphine accompanied by the new Bishop of Maronea Western Oceania , Jean-Baptiste Pompallier.

Despite little apparent success and severe want, he maintained endless patience and courage. On 2 February , a cyclone destroyed almost all the houses and plantations on the island. Chanel laboured faithfully amid the greatest hardships, attending the sick, baptizing the dying, and winning from all the name of "the man with the kind heart".[6] It was a difficult mission, requiring him to cope with isolation and acclimatise to different foods and customs, but it eventually began to bear some fruit.

A few natives had been baptised while a few more were being instructed.[4] King Niuliki believed Christianity would undermine his authority as high priest and king. When his son, Meitala, sought to be baptised, the king sent a favored warrior, his son-in-law, Musumusu, to "do whatever was necessary" to resolve the problem.

Musumusu went to Meitala and the two fought. Musumusu, injured in the fracas, went to Chanel feigning need of medical attention. While Chanel tended him, a group of others ransacked his house. Musumusu took an ax and clubbed Chanel to death. Chanel died on 28 April [7]

Relics

Pompallier heard of the death of Chanel on 4 November while he was at Akaroa and arranged for a French naval corvette commanded by the Comte du Bouzet, L’Allier, to accompany the mission schooner Sancta Maria and sail on 19 November for Wallis and Futuna, taking with him Philippe Viard.

The two vessels arrived at ʻUvea on 30 December The bishop sent Viard to Futuna, where he landed on 18 January A chief named Maligi, who had not agreed to Chanel's murder, agreed to disinter Chanel's body and brought it to the L’Allier the next day, wrapped in several local mats.[8]

The ship's doctor, M.

Rault, was able to verify the identity of the remains, bearing in mind the description of the manner of Chanel's death given previously by Marie-Nizier.

Biography st peter chanel church the gap la The area includes six independent nations, and two French territories. Saints of the Catholic Church. His first posting was as curate to Amberieu where the seminarian Claude Bret, his later friend, fellow Marist and companion on the voyage to Oceania was active in the school. The local parish priest persuaded his parents to allow Peter to attend a small school the priest had started.

The doctor undertook to embalm the remains, so that they could be kept, wrapping them in linen and placing them in a cask. The schooner Sancta Maria transported the body back to Kororāreka, New Zealand, arriving on 3 May [9]

The relics remained in the Bay of Islands until , when they were accompanied by Petitjean to Auckland, New Zealand – most likely early in April They left New Zealand on 15 April by the ship Maukin, and arrived in Sydney, Australia, on 4 May.

Rocher received the container that held the bones and took it to the Procure Chapel at Gladesville in Sydney on 7 May. Rocher was very careful in making the decision as to when to send the container on to England and France. He looked for a trustworthy captain, and a reliable person in London to receive the consignment, attend to the customs, and have it sent on to Lyon.

Early in , Bernin, pro-vicar for Bishop Douarre, vicar-apostolic of New Caledonia, had to leave for France. He left Sydney for London on the Waterloo on 1 February , taking Chanel's remains with him. On 1 June , the remains arrived at the motherhouse of the Society of Mary in Lyon. The relics were returned to Futuna in The skull was returned to Futuna in [9]

Conversions in Futuna

Pompallier sent Catherin Servant, François Roulleaux-Dubignon and Marie Nizier to return to the island and they arrived on 9 June Eventually, most islanders converted to Catholicism.

Musumusu himself converted and, as he lay dying, expressed the desire that he be buried outside the church at Poi so that those who came to revere Chanel would walk over his grave to reach it.[10]

The tabloid The Catholic Weekly has claimed that a Tongan dance, the eke, originated as penance for Chanel's death.[11]

Veneration

Chanel was declared a martyr and beatified on 17 November [12] The cause for his canonization was opened on 10 June ,[12] and he was canonized on 12 June by Pope Pius XII.[3] Chanel is recognized as the protomartyr and patron saint of Oceania.

His feast day is 28 April, which is a public holiday in Wallis and Futuna.[13]

Peter is remembered in the Church of England with a commemoration on 28 April.[14]

Legacy

Marist priests and brothers working in Oceania cover a territory as big as Western Europe.

The area includes six independent nations and two French territories. The Marist Oceania province is the largest in the Society of Mary.[3]

Several schools and colleges, mostly in Oceania but including Chanel College, Dublin, are named for him.

See also

Links

Roger Burke, Michael Perry, St.

  • St peter chanel ca
  • Biography st peter chanel church the gap ma
  • St peter chanel, hawaiian gardens

    • Peter Chanel, Patron of Chanel College, Gladstone, Gladstone, Australia: Gladstone Printing Services,

    References

    1. ^ abcStevens, Rev. Clifford. "The One Year Book of Saints", OSV Publishing, Huntington, Indiana
    2. ^Dom Antoine Marie osb.

      " San Pietro Chanel Sacerdote e martire", Santi e Beati, August 31,

    3. ^ abcSt. Peter Chanel SM
    4. ^ abcFoley OFM, Leonard. Saint of the Day, Lives, Lessons, and Feast, Franciscan MediaISBN&#;
    5. ^ abFreri, Joseph.

      "St. Peter-Louis-Marie Chanel." The Catholic Encyclopedia.

      St. peter chanel in paulina la While Chanel tended him, a group of others ransacked his house. He arrived on the island of Futuna in November In general, Marists are to be Mary in the world, they will do any work as it is not so much what they do, but how they do it that matters. His death brought his work to completion - within five months the entire island was converted to Christianity.

      Vol. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 2 Apr.

    6. ^ abSollier, J.P., "St. Peter-Louis-Marie Chanel." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 2 Apr.
    7. ^Monks of Ramsgate. "Peter Chanel". Book of Saints 9 October This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
    8. ^Broadbent, John V.

      "Viard, Philippe Joseph, – Priest, missionary, bishop". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 5 April

    9. ^ abFr Brian Quin SM. "The Story of his "Relics"".

    10. St peter school
    11. St peter chanel open day
    12. St peter claver school
    13. St peter's primary school

      14. St Peter Chanel. Retrieved 23 June

    14. ^"How Peter died – the oral tradition". St Peter Chanel. Retrieved 18 June
    15. ^"Berala receives relic with relish".

      Biography st peter chanel church the gap france In , the Society was given the New Hebrides in the Pacific as a field for evangelization, and the jubilant Saint Peter was appointed Superior of a little band of missionaries sent to proclaim the faith to its inhabitants. Several schools and colleges , mostly in Oceania but including Chanel College, Dublin , are named for him. There are three "provinces", one in Australia , one in New Zealand and another which encompasses the Pacific Islands, and which the Society of Mary calls the Province of Oceania. Musumusu went to Meitala and the two fought.

      Catholic Weekly. 13 August Retrieved 18 January

    16. ^ abIndex ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January p.&#;
    17. ^Melton, J. Gordon (13 September ). Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations [2 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations.

      ABC-CLIO. ISBN&#; &#; via Google Books.

    18. ^"The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 28 March