5 Franciscan martyrs beatified in Georgia; Pope hails their example

November 02, 2026

Five Franciscan friars who were martyred in modern-day Georgia in 1597 were beatified on October 31.

More than 10,000 people attended the Mass (video, 58:00), which took place in the Savannah Convention Center. Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto, the Pope’s legate, was the principal celebrant.

“The 16th-century Franciscan friars from Spain, courageous missionaries ministering to the Guale people in La Florida, are bright lights for our journey of faith, as they reflect the light of Christ into the challenges and complexities of a wounded world,” Cardinal Leo preached. “It is imperative to remember those blessed souls who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith, especially those who gave the supreme witness of their very lives.”

The Order of Friars Minor, to which Blessed Pedro de Corpa and his fellow martyrs belonged, recalled the events that led to their martyrdom:

Juanillo, a young Guale warrior who had been baptized and was already married, decided to take a second wife. This contravened the Church’s teaching on the unity and indissolubility of marriage, in which he had received instruction. When Br. [Friar] Pedro de Corpa reminded him of the commitments he had made at baptism, Juanillo reacted by organizing the missionary’s murder. Br. Pedro was murdered in Tolomato in early September 1597.

The violence soon spread to the other missions. Br. Blas Rodríguez was killed in Tupiquí after being allowed to celebrate a final Mass. Although warned of the danger, Br. Miguel de Añón and Br. Antonio de Badajoz chose to remain with the community of Santa Catalina, where they were tortured and killed. Br. Francisco de Veráscola, who had been away from his mission and was unaware of the uprising, was killed on his return to the island of Asao.

Pope Leo XIV hailed the martyrs’ example on the day after the beatification Mass, at the conclusion of his All Saints’ Day Angelus address.

“Yesterday, in Savannah, Georgia, in the United States of America, Pedro de Corpa and four companions, religious of the Order of Friars Minor, who were killed in odium fidei [in hatred of the faith] in 1597, were beatified,” Pope Leo said to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “Originally from Spain, they responded generously to the Lord’s call to evangelize the peoples of the Americas, even to the point of giving their lives. Let us invoke the intercession of these martyrs for all missionaries of the Gospel.”

 

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Further information:

• Martiri della Georgia (Dicastero della Cause dei Santi)
• The Georgia Martyrs (Diocese of Savannah)
• Beatification of Pedro de Corpa and his fellow martyrs, OFM (Order of Friars Minor)
• Georgia Martyrs beatified in Savannah (Franciscan Friars, Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 11/1/26)
• Angelus (Dicastery for Communication - Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 11/1/26)
• The Beatification of the Georgia Martyrs (OSV News)