Biography of st peter chanel

19th-century French Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr

Peter Louis Marie Chanel, SM (12 July 1803 – 28 April 1841), was a Catholic priest, missionary, and martyr.

Chanel was a member of the Society of Mary and was sent as a missionary to Oceania. He arrived on the island of Futuna in November 1837.

Biography of st peter chanel

Chanel was clubbed to death in April 1841 at the instigation of a chief upset because his son converted.

Life

Early years

Chanel was born in the hamlet of La Potière near Montrevel-en-Bresse, Ain département, France.

Son of Claude-François Chanel and Marie-Anne Sibellas he was the fifth of eight children. From about the age of 7 to 12 he worked as a shepherd. The local parish priest persuaded his parents to allow Peter to attend a small school the priest had started.

After some local schooling, his piety and intelligence attracted the attention of a visiting priest from Cras, the abbé Trompier, who took over the boy's education at Cras in the autumn of 1814