Andrew Dung-Lac, a Catholic convert and priest, was one of 117 martyrs in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862. The companions group was made up of those who died for Christ in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. From 1900 until 1951, they were beatified four times. On June 19, 1988, Saint Pope John Paul II canonized them all to be saints.

Vietnam was introduced to Christianity by the Portuguese. In 1615, Jesuits established Da Nang's first permanent mission. After being expelled from Japan, they provided ministry to Japanese Catholics.

In the 19th century, there were at least three instances of severe persecution. Between 100,000 and 300,000 Catholics suffered greatly or were slain in the six decades that followed 1820. Spanish Dominican priests and tertiaries, as well as priests from the Paris Mission Society, were among the foreign missionaries who died in the first wave of martyrdom.

Emperor Minh-Mang attempted to force all Vietnamese people to reject their faith by stepping on a crucifix in 1832 and outlawed all foreign missionaries. Many hiding places were provided in the homes of the devout, similar to the priest-holes that were created in Ireland during the English persecution.

When the emperor believed that foreign missionaries and Vietnamese Christians were supporting a rebellion headed by one of his sons, persecution broke out once more in 1847.

In 1862, 17 laypeople, including a 9-year-old, were hanged as the final martyrs. Catholics were promised religious freedom that year by a treaty with France, although not all persecution was stopped.

In the north, there were over a million Catholics by 1954, or roughly 7% of the total population. About sixty percent were Buddhists. Approximately 670,000 Catholics were compelled to migrate to the south due to ongoing persecution, leaving behind their houses, lands, and belongings. There were 833,000 Catholics in the north in 1964, but a large number of them were incarcerated. With the influx of migrants, Catholics in the south were experiencing their first decade of religious freedom in generations.

The martyrs who bear witness to the atrocities committed against the Vietnamese Church on this feast day attest to some of the worst afflictions ever perpetrated upon a Christian community throughout the ages.

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