St. Peter Chanel
Patron Saint of Oceania
St. Peter Chanel was born in France in 1803. As a child, he became fascinated by the lives of missionaries. After becoming a priest, Peter joined the Marists, a new order that emphasized missionary work. He initially spent five years as a spiritual director before leaving for the Canary Islands for mission work in 1837. Next, Peter briefly went to Chile, then the Gambier Islands and Tahiti. He ended his journey at the island Futuna where he lived the last four years of his life learning a new language and teaching the faith to the people of the island. When the chieftain's son asked to be baptized, St. Peter Chanel was clubbed to death. Shortly after his death, almost the entire island was converted to Christianity. St. Peter was canonized in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. Today he is recognized as a protomartyr and patron saint of Oceania.