St. Peter Chanel (1803-1841) was a missionary priest of the Society of Mary and a martyr who was sent to bring the Catholic faith to the Pacific island Futuna, northwest of Australia between Fiji and Samoa. His feast day is April 28.
Peter was born in France. He worked as a shepherd as a boy, and entered the minor seminary in 1819. While there, he won awards for his learning in Latin, doctrine and oratory, and developed an interest in working in the foreign missions. He was ordained a priest in 1827, and joined the nascent Society of Mary or Marist Fathers.
Peter was the first missionary to arrive on the small island kingdom of Futuna in 1837. The tribe he encountered engaged in many brutal practices, such as cannibalism. He learned the native language, attended the sick, baptized the dying and earned the title “the man with the kind heart.” The local king Niuluki initially welcomed him, but became alarmed when he saw many of his people, including his son and daughter, stop worshipping idols and embrace Catholicism. Peter was clubbed to death by the king’s men.
The saint’s martyrdom combined with the efforts of future missionaries led to the conversion of the island kingdom to Catholicism, however, and today the Basilica of St. Peter Chanel in Poi stands at the site of his martyrdom. He was canonized in 1854.