Blessed Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung
Thai priest who died in a Bangkok prison in 1944 after baptising fellow inmates
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Priest, Martyr
- Life
- 1895 – 1944
- Era
- 20th century
- Feast
- 12 January
- Countries
- Thailand
Life story
He was born on 31 January 1895 at Nakhon Pathom, Thailand (some sources give 28 February, but the parish baptismal register disagrees). He was ordained priest on 24 January 1926 at the Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok. He served as assistant pastor, taught Thai to Salesian priests and catechetics to seminarians, and did mission work in places such as Lampang, Chiang Mai, Khorat and along the Laotian border.
During the Franco-Thai war of the early 1940s, the authorities suspected Catholics of collaborating with the French. He was arrested on 12 January 1941 and charged with rebellion against the kingdom, and he was sentenced to more than ten years in Bang Khwang prison.
In prison he looked after fellow inmates and baptised 68 of them. Sources say he contracted tuberculosis there and was refused treatment because he was Catholic. He died on 12 January 1944 in Bangkok, aged 48, and was buried beneath the main altar of the Assumption Cathedral.
Pope John Paul II beatified him on 5 March 2000 in St Peter's Square. He is recognised as the first Thai to be honoured by the Church for dying from the hardships of imprisonment.
Works and witness
- Ordained priest on 24 January 1926
- Missionary in Lampang, Chiang Mai, Khorat and the Laotian border area
- Arrested on 12 January 1941 and held at Bang Khwang
- Baptised 68 fellow prisoners
- Beatified on 5 March 2000
Saints from the same country
References
- Decree of beatification, John Paul II, 5 March 2000
- Archdiocese of Bangkok, biography of Fr Nicholas Bunkerd Kitbamrung
- Martyrologium Romanum
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.