The 117 martyrs, who included 96 Vietnamese, 11 Spaniards and 10 Frenchmen, were beatified by Saint John Paul II in St Peter's Square on 19 June 1988. They died during the various waves of persecution under the reigns of Trinh, Tay Son, Minh Mang, Thieu Tri and Tu Duc. Nov. 24 is the feast day of the martyrs who died in Vietnam.

For this special occasion, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam announced on May 1 the Holy See’s approval for a jubilee year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the canonization of 117 martyrs of the Vietnam Catholic Church.  Accordingly, the 30th anniversary of the canonisation of 117 martyrs is set to be celebrated starting on 19 June until 24 November 2018, the feast day of the martyrs.

So far, the ecclesiastical provinces of Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City held three different opening ceremonies of the jubilee year. The ceremonies took place at three historical sites of the country's ecclesiastical provinces, namely the 135-year-old Minor Basilica of Immaculate Conception of Mary in Ha Nam province, the 220-year-old national shrine of Our Lady of La Vang in Quang Tri province and Ba Giong Pilgrimage Center in Tien Giang province.

In addition, each diocese in the three ecclesiastical provinces held separate programs in June and July for celebrating the 30th anniversary of the canonisation of 117 martyrs.

The opening ceremony of the jubilee year in the ecclesiastical province of Hanoi  took place at the 135-year-old Minor Basilica of Immaculate Conception of Mary in So Kien, Ha Nam province on June 18-19. The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Pierre Nguyễn Văn Nhơn, Archbishop of Hanoi, and attended by Archbishop of Hue Joseph Nguyễn Chí Linh, and 13 bishops, 300 priests and 20,000 worshippers from the ten dioceses of the ecclesiastical province (Bac Ninh, Bui Chu, Hai Phong, Hung Hoa, Lang Son, Phat Diem, Thanh Hoa, Thai Binh, Vinh and Hanoi Metropolitan).

Dioceses in the ecclesiastical provinces of Hue and Ho Chi Minh City have held celebrating activities mainly within each diocese with the participation of the diocese bishop, priests and worshippers. Many parishes and congregations have also circulated writings about virtues of the martyrs, erected images of the martyrs inside parish churches and organized preaching on their good examples.

In addition, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam has released a publication edited by Bishop Peter Nguyễn Văn Khảm entitled “Virtures of Vietnamese Martyrs” on historical accounts of the martyrs, and distributed it to all parishes and congregations of the Vietnam Catholic Church.

So far, all activities aimed to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the canonisation of 117 martyrs of the Vietnam Catholic Church have enjoyed favorable conditions created by the Vietnam Government Committee for Religious Affairs and concerning local authorities.

PTT