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Jean-Louis Bonnard
French Roman Catholic missionary to Vietnam (1824-1852)
SaintResearchedFranceDocumented cause
Feast: 24 November (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
1 March 1824
verified
Died
30 April 1852
verified
Beatified
27 May 1900
unverified
Canonised
19 June 1988
unverified
Who they were
Jean-Louis Bonnard studied at Lyons and the Seminary of the Foreign Missions in Paris, and reached West Tonkin in 1850.
Arrested on 21 March 1852 while caring for two parishes, he was condemned and beheaded on 30 April 1852. Christians recovered his body from the river.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle. The Catholic Encyclopedia records that he had been declared Venerable.
Why that counted as sanctity
A young missionary who gave his life in Vietnam.
Connected on this site
- Vietnamese Martyrs Saint honoured together
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Jean-Louis Bonnard
- Wikidata Q2043452 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Jean-Louis Bonnard (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.