This month will see the beatification of five Franciscan missionaries who were martyred in 1597 in the region known as La Florida, along the coast of modern-day Georgia.
The missionaries evangelized and ministered to the local Guale people, and had largely lived in peace with them for years until what came to be known as the 1597 Uprising, sparked by the insistence of a local chieftain’s heir on continuing to practice polgamy after entering the Catholic Church.
The cause for canonization for the five murdered missionaries was opened in 1981. In January 2025, Pope Francis approved the official promulgation of their martyrdom.
Friars Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Antonio de Badajoz, Miguel de Añón, and Francisco de Veráscola will be beatified October 31 in Savannah, Georgia.
Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto will serve as papal representative, celebrating the beatification Mass at the Savannah Convention Center.
Who were the Georgia Martyrs? What are the events that led to their deaths? The Pillar explains:
Friar Pedro de Corpa
A native of central Spain, Pedro de Corpa was ordained a Franciscan
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