Five Spanish Friars Move Toward Sainthood in Savannah Ceremony

Catholic faithful gathered at the Savannah Convention Center on Saturday for a beatification Mass marking five Spanish Franciscan friars who worked among the Guale people along Georgia's coast and were killed in 1597. The Vatican recognizes potential saints in stages, and beatification is one step below full sainthood.

Friar Peter Kafumu, vice rector of St. Lawrence Seminary High School in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, traveled more than 1,100 miles to attend. He brought six students from the boys' boarding school along with a musical director. "These boys are discerning for the priesthood, and we thought, if we give them the chance and opportunity to see what is happening today, it will add value to their discernment process," Kafumu said.

The five missionaries arrived in colonial Georgia beginning in 1597. Pedro de Corpa was the first friar killed in the village of Tomatola, where he had objected to a baptized Guale chief taking a second wife. Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añon, Antonio de Badajoz and Francisco de Veráscola were killed in the days that followed. Badajoz served as interpreter for the friars and spoke fluent Guale. Veráscola was seized near St. Augustine while returning from a mission to Talaje.

Cardinal Gregory Aymon of the Vatican and Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington presided over the beatification ceremony. The first public celebration of the event was held in 1597.

The killings followed a period of missionary activity among Native American and Spanish populations from 1560 to 1860, when English, American, Guale, Muskogee and Spanish settlers lived between the coastal barrier islands.

Chris Erwin, a Catholic historian in Rome, said he traveled with his wife and daughters to attend. "I've been Catholic my whole life, and I feel that hearing this history, I don't hear about my roots, and that it's been a part of who I am before I knew it," Erwin said.

Young St. Jeswe, a Catholic Florida historian, said he considers the beatification significant for both those who follow the faith and those who do not. "We don't think about history and facts that connect countries and peoples, and it's not something I like to speak about," Young said.

The ceremony took place at the Savannah Convention Center. The Archdiocese of Atlanta archives hold documents related to the Georgia Martyrs.

The Vatican's decision to move toward beatification was made in 2007 when Pope John Paul II recognized the Georgia Martyrs as blessed. The Archdiocese of Savannah and the Vatican worked toward the ceremony.