St. Ignatius Delgado, whose feast we celebrate on July 12, was a Spanish missionary and is now one of the martyrs of Vietnam.
He was born in Villafeliche, Spain, in 1761, and was raised in a pious family. He became a Dominican priest and served as a missionary in Vietnam for almost 50 years.
He was named coadjutor vicar-apostolic at East Tonkin, Vietnam. However, government-sanctioned persecution of Christians began soon after. Ignatius was arrested and locked in a cage, then put on public display for ridicule and abuse, and left to die. He died of hunger and exposure in 1838.
The martyr was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
