Beatification ceremony held in Savannah for The Georgia Martyrs

SAVANNAH, GA. – Five Spanish Franciscan friars ministered to the Guale people in five missions in 1597 and were massacred by Guale warriors for defending their Christian faith 429 years ago. Three of those friars were killed in what is now McIntosh County and two on St. Catherine’s Island.

On Saturday, Oct. 31, Mass and beatification ceremony was held at the Savannah Convention Center where more than 8,000 gathered for the step to declare the friars ‘Blessed’ a significant step toward sainthood. 

This is the sixth such ceremony to ever be held in the United States and the first in Georgia. Only 11 people in America have been declared saints in America by the Catholic Church up until this time.

In attendance were Catholics from near and far, including a large group from Dublin’s Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, along with its Pastor, Father Robert Phillips.

“It was a blessing to be there,” said Lula Leckie, who was among the delegation from the Dublin Church. “In the Catholic Church, Mass is where Heaven and Earth come together to give glory and praise to God. We were grateful to have this opportunity. It was a chance of a lifetime.”

Most recently, the mission of Tupiqui, where Frey Blas Rodrigues was killed, was discovered on Creighton Island by archeologists.  Also attending the ceremony were Frank and Martha Williams, owners of Creighton.

In 1595, Spain sent missionaries to serve on the coast of Georgia, after Jesuit missionaries left the area numerous years before. Fray Francisco de Verascola served at the mission, Talaje in Darien, where Fort King George is located. Fray Blass Rodriguez was at Tupiqui on Creighton, Fray Pedro de Corpa was at Tolomato. The location has not yet been identified, but possible locations are the north end of Harris Neck, Sutherland Bluff or current day Tolomato in Carneghan. Friars Miguel de Anon and Antonio de Badajoz ministered on St. Catherine’s Island in Liberty County.

The friars preached the Gospel and lived peacefully among the thousands of Guale natives, without any Spanish military protection. Until one day in September 1597 when Friar Pedro de Corpa at Tolomato would not permit don Juanillo, who was baptized Christian and was in line to become the head of the chiefdom (cacique), to take a second wife, which was the custom of the Guale people, but not the custom of a baptized Christian.

The Catholic diocesan publication, The Southern Cross, Sept. 13, 2018 issue, stated: Fray Pedro at Tolomato probably had the ultimate responsibility for defining the official position of the Church. Perhaps after consultation with Fray Blas in the nearby mission of Tupiqui, and adhering faithfully at the Church’s teaching on the essential nature of Christian marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman, Fray Pedro admonished the errant Juanillo to adhere to the marriage promises he had made as a baptized Christian in receiving the sacrament of Matrimony. Moreover, in union with Blas, he made known his opposition to Juanillo’s succession as cacique.”

That did not sit well with Juanillo, so he assembled a Guale revolt. He gathered his warriors and murdered Fray Pedro de Corpa with a macana, a wooden club, on Sept. 14, 1597. Next, Fray Miguel de Anon and Fray Antonio, a layman, were massacred on St. Catherine’s. Then they headed to Tupiqui, where Briar Blas was killed by a macana to the head. 

Then Fray Francisco de Verascola was arriving by canoe to his mission at Lower Bluff in Darien, bringing supplies back from St. Augustine, when he was taken by surprise by the warriors and killed by blows from a macana.

The process of canonization (becoming a saint) is called a Cause and it can’t begin until five years after a candidate has passed away. The Cause for Canonization for the five friars began in 1950, 353 years after their deaths. Franciscan Fr. Marion Habig was appointed as the first Vice-Postulator for the Cause.

Then in 1984, the 12^th Bishop of Savannah, Raymond W. Lessard accepted the petition for canonization of the five martyrs and the process of Diocesan Investigation began. On March 16, 2007, that phase was complete, and the documents submitted to the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Causes of Saints in Rome.

On Jan. 27, 2025, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints to recognize the martyrdom of the five friars in 1597 in which they were murdered “in hatred of the faith.” That decree makes it possible for the beatification of five venerable servants of God, which was held on Oct. 31.

The beatification ceremony was deemed “Blessed” and worthy of imitation by the faithful.

Most Rev. Stephen D. Parkes, Bishop of Savannah, welcomed Pope Leo XIV’s official delegate, His Eminence Frank Cardinal Leo, Archbishop of Toronto, and the numerous bishops, vast number of clergy and the faithful to the beatification celebration. 

The homily was delivered by His Eminence Frank Cardinal Leo, who called for holiness, respect for human dignity, the sanctity of marriage and family, and evangelization through missionary witness.

He said, “Very often today, aspects of Catholic faith are challenged by many, and in countless ways we are cajoled and tempted to water down the very demands of the Gospel, to compromise the integrity of our faith, and to conform ourselves to the spirit of this age. And yet today, we come to comprehend more clearly the need to always put Christ first, and to see everything and anyone in our life, relationships, studies, work, and ministry, in relation to Him and to His eternal kingdom.

“This beatification has likewise celebrated a very important milestone year of two types. First, we’re in the midst of the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America….It is a duty for us to keep praying and striving for true unity and healing in this land and of every land across the world, since polarization is not from God.

“The second significant commemoration this year is the 800^th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi. (Oct. 31),” he noted.

“The church considers martyrdom as an exceptional gift and as the fullest proof of love. By martyrdom, a disciple was transformed into the image of his master by freely accepting death for the salvation of the world, as well as the conformity to Christ and the shedding of His blood.”

There were three specific dimensions of the Georgia martyrs that he noted. “First is their witness to the universal call for holiness and service. We can never overstate how crucial it is for followers of Christ to embrace the vocation to become saints…”

The second aspect was the martyrs’ witness to the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of marriage and family.

The third aspect was “their witness to evangelization and dialog with apostolic zeal and charity. Intuitively, what comes to mind when we consider the life and death of our beloved and blessed friars are Jesus’s words in the Gospel of John. No one has greater love than this to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, having left everyone and everything behind to follow the Lord, a calling which brought them across the Atlantic to this very place, they fulfilled Christ’s words with great zeal and vigor.”

Kathleen Russell, Editor and Publisher of The Darien News, contributed to this article.