SHRINE OF BLESSED ANDREW OF PHU YEN – PHUOC KIEU

In the peaceful countryside between Da Nang and Hoi An lies a place connected with the earliest bloodshed for the Catholic faith in Vietnam. The Shrine of Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen stands in Phuoc Kieu, within the historic area of the former Thanh Chiem administrative centre, where a young Vietnamese catechist gave his life for Christ on 26 July 1644.

Andrew was born in Phu Yen around 1625. Raised by his widowed mother, he encountered Christianity while still young and was baptized at approximately sixteen years of age. His intelligence, devotion, and spiritual maturity drew the attention of the Jesuit missionary Father Alexandre de Rhodes, who welcomed him into the association of catechists known as the Maison Dieu.

These early Vietnamese catechists were indispensable to the Church’s missionary work. They instructed new believers, accompanied missionaries, cared for Christian communities, and continued teaching the faith when priests were absent. Andrew publicly committed himself to this vocation and travelled with Father Alexandre de Rhodes in service of the young Church.

In July 1644, during a period of persecution against Christians in central Vietnam, Andrew was arrested at the Jesuit mission in Thanh Chiem. Although still only about nineteen years old, he refused to renounce the faith to which he had dedicated his life. He was taken outside the fortified settlement and put to death on 26 July 1644.

Father Alexandre de Rhodes witnessed Andrew’s final journey and preserved a detailed account of his courage. The young catechist continued to speak about Christ and encouraged the Christians around him. The words associated with his final testimony express the spirituality by which he is still remembered:

“Let us return love for love to our God; let us return life for life.”

His final invocation was the name of Jesus.

Because his martyrdom occurred at the beginning of the Church’s history in Vietnam, Andrew is honoured as the Protomartyr of Vietnam and the First Witness of the Vietnamese Church. Pope Saint John Paul II beatified him in Saint Peter’s Square on 5 March 2000, presenting his fidelity as a model for the Church in his homeland.

The land of Phuoc Kieu, within the historic Thanh Chiem region, preserves the memory of his martyrdom. On 26 July 2007, exactly 363 years after his death, the Bishop of Da Nang elevated the existing chapel to the status of a diocesan shrine dedicated to Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen. The shrine later became the principal church of the local Catholic community, which was formally established as the Parish of the Shrine of Blessed Andrew of Phu Yen–Phuoc Kieu in 2023.

Each year, the Diocese of Da Nang holds its principal pilgrimage here around 26 July. The celebration is especially important for catechists, who honour Blessed Andrew as their patron, and for young Catholics who find in his brief life an example of courage, commitment, and wholehearted love for Christ.

Phuoc Kieu is not distinguished by monumental architecture. Its importance comes from the history carried by the land itself. Here, pilgrims encounter the beginnings of the Vietnamese Church through the story of a young lay catechist who possessed neither authority nor social position, yet became its first recognized martyr. His witness continues to express the spiritual identity of this shrine: love answered with love, and life offered in response to the life received from Christ.