Georgia Martyrs Beatified for Defending Christian Marriage
Cardinal Leo, papal delegate, hailed five friars killed in 1597 as witnesses whose fidelity still summons spouses and the Church.
On October 31, 2026, Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto, acting as papal delegate, presided at a Mass in the Savannah Convention Center that beatified five Spanish Franciscan friars known as the Georgia Martyrs: Fathers Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añon, and Francisco de Veráscola, and Brother Antonio de Badajoz.
About 10,000 people filled the hall for the 11 a.m. liturgy. Concelebrants included Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, and Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah, who formally petitioned for the beatification. Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer proclaimed Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic letter in English; Archbishop Joan-Enric Vives i Sicília read it in Spanish. Signed in Rome on September 30, 2026, the feast of St. Jerome, the letter called the martyrs “unconquered heralds of Christ” who “placed the saving truth of the Gospel before their own safety” and fixed September 22 as their liturgical memorial.
The Church had recognized their martyrdom in January 2025, when Pope Francis authorized the related decree.
Killed for the Truth of Matrimony
The friars died in the Guale Uprising of September 14–17, 1597. Father Pedro de Corpa told Juanillo, a baptized Guale heir, that he could not take a second wife under local custom. Juanillo and his men killed de Corpa at a mission near present-day Eulonia, Georgia, then struck down the four companions. Another friar, Francisco de Ávila, was seized, tortured for months, and later freed.
After the Mass, Bishop Parkes said: “I truly believe that through the intercession of Blessed Pedro de Corpa and four companions there will be greater respect for the dignity and character of the sacrament of holy matrimony,” adding that their witness may “inspire fidelity between spouses.”
A Call Not to Water Down the Gospel
In his homily, Cardinal Leo cited paragraph 2473 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: martyrdom “is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith. It means bearing witness even unto death.” He cautioned that “we are cajoled and tempted to water down the very demands of the Gospel.” He linked the celebration to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death, and concluded: “There are still some things today worth living and dying for.”
The official image—a watercolor by Savannah artist Jared Matthew Seff, chosen from roughly 100 entries—was unveiled during the Mass. Eight palm trees that decorated the convention center will be transplanted to the Georgia Martyrs’ monument at Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church in Darien, Georgia.