Catholic Church Beatifies 5 Georgia Martyrs in Savannah as 9,000 Attend Rare U.S. Ceremony
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 15
Catholic Church Beatifies 5 Georgia Martyrs in Savannah as 9,000 Attend Rare U.S. Ceremony
2 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 15
Summary
9,000 worshippers gathered in Savannah for the beatification of five 16th-century Spanish missionaries, only the sixth such ceremony held in the United States and the first in the South.
The friars were killed more than 400 years ago after opposing a future Guale chief’s plan to take a second wife, a dispute the church says made them martyrs for defending Catholic teaching on marriage.
Pope Francis had approved their martyrdom decree after decades of Vatican review, and Pope Leo later set the Oct. 31 beatification date; Cardinal Frank Leo presided and formally declared them “blessed.”
The ceremony unveiled an official portrait chosen from four dozen entries, painted by Savannah professor Jared Seff, whose image of the martyrs became a focal point for prayer during the service.
Church leaders cast the event as newly relevant amid falling U.S. marriage rates and widening gaps between Catholic teaching and practice, including 65% national approval for same-sex marriage.