2016-12-13 16:24:00

‎17 martyrs beatified in Laos


More than a thousand Catholics witnessed the Beatification of 17 martyrs of Laos in the Sacred Heart Cathedral of the capital Vientiane, Sunday morning. Filipino Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, Archbishop of Cotabato led the Beatification Mass, which was also attended by government officials wearing traditional garb, seated in the front rows, as well as two cardinals, several bishops and many priests.  With some 60,000 Catholics making up just 1% of the country’s nearly 7 million population, the turnout was high with many people following the liturgy from a giant screen outside the cathedral.   

The group of 17 martyrs known as  “Joseph Tien and his 16 companions” were killed for their faith between 1954 and 1970 at the hands Communist Pathet Lao forces. Six of them were Laotians, ten were priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) and one was Italian Oblate of Mary Immaculate (OMI) priest Fr.  Mario Borzaga, who was killed in 1960 along with his young Lao catechist Paul Thoj‎.

Pope Francis on Sunday recalled the 17 martyrs of  Laos saying, “Their heroic fidelity to Christ can be an encouragement and example to missionaries, especially catechists, who in mission lands play a valuable and irreplaceable apostolic role, for which the entire Church is grateful.”   Drawing attention to catechists, he said “they do a lot of work, such a beautiful job! Being a catechist is a beautiful thing: you bring the message of the Lord so that it grows inside of us,” the Pope said inviting a round of applause for catechists.

Card. Quevedo said that 17 martyrs are heroes of the faith and that their story should be made known to younger generation.  He said that even though Laos has "a very small flock" they should remember that, if the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church, "then we shall surely see the fruit of their spilled blood." "The grain of wheat has fallen to the ground and has died. With the utmost certainty it shall bear fruit in the number of Catholics, in the quality of your faith and in the number of vocations to the priestly and religious life," the cardinal added.  He invited all Christians to celebrate the liturgical feast of the martyrs on 16 December. 

At the end of the Mass, a Laotian government official spoke.  Apostolic Delegate to Laos, residing in Bangkok, Thailand, resident in Bangkok, Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam also spoke, inviting on the government to establish diplomatic relations with the Holy See. 

The Mass was followed by a festive community lunch accompanied by traditional songs and dances, which the authorities limited only to the cathedral grounds.   (Source: AsiaNews/UCAN)








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