St. Paul Tong Buong October 23

 St. Paul Tong Buong

Feastday: October 23

Death: 1833

Canonized: Pope John Paul II

Vietnamese martyr. A native of Vietnam, he served in the bodyguard of the king. A convert, he gave his assistance to the Paris Foreign Missions and so helped to advance the Catholic cause in the country. Arrested by Vietnamese authorities for being a Christian, he was tortured, humiliated, and beheaded. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1988.

The Vietnamese Martyrs (Vietnamese: Các Thánh Tử đạo Việt Nam), also known as the Martyrs of Annam, Martyrs of Tonkin and Cochinchina, Martyrs of Indochina, or Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions (Anrê Dũng-Lạc và các bạn tử đạo), are saints on the General Roman Calendar who were canonized by Pope John Paul II. On June 19, 1988, thousands of overseas Vietnamese worldwide gathered at the Vatican for the Celebration of the Canonization of 117 Vietnamese Martyrs, an event chaired by Monsignor Tran Van Hoai. Their memorial is on November 24 (although several of these saints have another memorial, as they were beatified and on the calendar prior to the canonization of the group).

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