A diocese in northern Vietnam has begun constru-ction of a church dedicated to Dominican martyrs replacing the ruins of an earlier one destroyed during a US air raid in 1967.

Bishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hai Phong celebrated a special Mass on Nov. 6 to begin the construction of the new church at the Hai Duong Martyrs Shrine in Hai Duong City, some 60 kilometers southeast of Hanoi.

Seventy priests concelebrat-ed at the Mass attended by 7,000 people from throughout the country. Representatives from government agencies and Buddhists were also present at the event with many offering congratulatory flowers.

“Today, 50 years after the destruction of the martyr shrine, we are happy to begin the construction of the new church. This is a historic landmark of our diocese,” Bishop Thien said during the Mass.

Bishop Thien said the shrine was a place where many Catholics and missionaries were executed for their faith. Among them were three Spanish Dominicans – Bishops Jeronimo Hermosilla Liem and Valentino Berrio Ochoa Vinh, and Father Pedro Almato Binh – who were killed Nov. 1, 1861 and Vietnamese Dominican Brother Joseph Nguyen Duy Khang who was killed on Dec. 6 of the same year.

The feast day for the four martyrs, among 117 Vietnamese martyrs who were canonized on June 19, 1988 by St. Pope John Paul II, is observed by the diocese on Nov. 6.

Bishop Thien said the new facilities aim to express the local Catholics’ deep gratitude to themartyrs and show the heritage of their faith. “I would like to call on all of you to follow the martyrs’ shining examples by loving and working with other people to build a society of peace and justice,” he said.