On January 13th 2010, Most Reverend Vincent Nguyen became Canada’s first Catholic Bishop of East Asian descent. He is the great-grandson of a Vietnamese Martyr.
Since the earliest European settlements in Canada five centuries ago, there has been a close association between the indigenous people and the Catholic Church. Four hundred years ago, on June 24, 1610, Grand Chief Henri Membertou, became the first North American and Mi’kmaq chief to be baptized.