Basilica of San Pedro Chanel (Poi, Futuna)
In the kingdom of Alo, to the north of the island of Futuna, the basilica of St. Peter Chanel, built on the same place where in 1841 the first martyr of Oceania was martyred. Although the diocesan cathedral under the title of the Assumption is located in Mata-Utu, on the neighbouring island of Wallis, it is in Poi that the spiritual heart of Futuna beats. Here rest the relics of the Holy Marist, the goal of pilgrimage from all over the Pacific.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- Saint Peter Chanel, a French Marist missionary, arrived in Futuna on 1 November 1837 and was killed on 28 April 1841 by order of King Niuliki, after the son of the monarch became Christian.
- The missionary's sacrifice was soon fruitful: in 1846, Musumusu himself, the author of the crime and already converted, asked to be buried in the place of martyrdom, and the entire island embraced the Catholic faith.
- Pedro Chanel was beatified by Leo XIII in 1889 and canonized by Pius XII on June 12, 1954, being proclaimed the patron of Oceania, the first martyr of the island continent.
- The present basilica, raised on the exact place of martyrdom, was blessed on July 16, 1986 and it guards the relics of the saint, including his skull, returned from Rome to the island.
- Every April 28, the liturgical feast of St. Peter Chanel, Poi hosts a pilgrimage that brings together the faithful of Futuna, Wallis and the whole Pacific around the martyr's tomb.
- In the same kingdom of Alo, about three kilometres south, the church of Our Lady of the Martyrs (or of the Seven Dolores) was rebuilt in 1996 after the 1993 earthquake, keeping alive the Marian memory of evangelization.
San Pedro Chanel de Poi
The basilica of St. Peter Chanel, in Poi (Kingdom of Alo, island of Futuna), rises on the place where in 1841 the first martyr of Oceania, the missionary Marist Peter Chanel, was martyred. The goal of the pilgrimage of the whole Pacific, he keeps his relics and remembers how the faith of the whole island was born of that blood. The title of the Assumption corresponds to the Cathedral of Mata- Utu, in the neighbouring Wallis; in Futuna the Insignia temple is this basilica of the martyr.
"Lord, who made the blood of your martyr Saint Peter Chanel fruitful to give faith to the islands of Futuna: by their intercession and under the protection of the Virgin Mary, Mother of the martyrs, grant us to proclaim the Gospel with the same dedication. May those who pilgrim to their tomb find strength in trial and perseverance in charity. Amen.
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