Five Georgia Martyrs Set for Beatification on Oct. 31
They were killed in 1597 defending the Church’s teaching on marriage; Cardinal Frank Leo will be principal celebrant at the beatification Mass.
The Diocese of Savannah will celebrate the beatification of five Franciscan friars known as the Georgia Martyrs on October 31, 2026, at 11 a.m. at the Savannah Convention Center. Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto will serve as principal celebrant of the Mass, which will be livestreamed for the faithful unable to attend in person.
The martyrs are Friars Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añón, Antonio de Badajoz, and Francisco de Veráscola. They were killed in 1597 near the Spanish missions of present-day coastal Georgia during the Guale Uprising.
Martyrs for the Truth of Christian Marriage
The violence followed Father Pedro de Corpa’s opposition to a Guale chief’s heir who, though a baptized Christian, sought to take a second wife. The friar’s defense of the Church’s teaching on the unity of marriage set him and his brothers on a collision course with local power. All five paid with their lives for that fidelity.
Their cause advanced decisively when Pope Francis authorized the recognition of their martyrdom in January 2025. That decree established that they died for the faith, the path by which the Church raises martyrs to the honors of the altar. The beatification coincides with the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi, a fitting frame for sons of the Poverello who carried the Gospel to these shores.
A Weekend of Thanksgiving in Savannah
Beyond the beatification Mass itself, the Diocese of Savannah has planned related observances. A museum exhibit dedicated to the five friars will be held at the convention center, offering pilgrims and local Catholics a chance to encounter their story more closely.
On November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints, Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah will celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. The timing binds the new blesseds to the communion of saints the Church commemorates that day.
For the Church in the United States, the beatification brings to the altars missionaries who shed their blood on American soil rather than yield on the unity of Christian marriage—a witness that still speaks where that sacrament is treated as disposable.