Hue Archdiocese in central Vietnam has kicked off a year of celebrations marking 170 years as a Catholic Church jurisdiction by honouring Mother Mary and thousands of people martyred in anti-Catholic purges.

An estimated 3,000 people attended the opening Mass on Jan. 1 to start the special year at Phu Cam Cathedral in Hue, the capital of Thua Thien Hue province.

Before the Mass, Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh of Hue and Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the Vatican’s non-resident envoy to Vietnam, offered incense in front of a large statue of Our Mother of La Vang at the nearby Pastoral Centre.

Archbishop Linh, head of the Vietnamese bishops’ conference, said the special year with the theme “God is joy of youth” is “aimed at thanking God for loving us and giving us an opportunity to express our deep gratitude to our ancestors who protected and passed down the faith to us today.”

He said local Catholics would honor Mother Mary and appeal to her to continue supporting them as she protected their ancestors in La Vang from religious persecution in 1798.