Five Georgia Martyrs Beatified in Savannah Before Nearly 10,000 Faithful
In Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, the Diocese of Savannah held the beatification of the five Georgia Martyrs at the Savannah Convention Center on October 31, honoring five Spanish Franciscan friars killed on the Georgia coast in 1597.
The ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto and was expected to draw close to 10,000 faithful — the largest gathering of Catholics in the history of the Diocese of Savannah, founded in 1850 — with about 30 bishops in attendance. The five friars arrived on the Georgia coast in 1595 and were killed in September 1597; Pope Francis confirmed their martyrdom in January 2025.
The diocese notes that Georgia's original 1733 colonial charter forbade Catholicism, which was not allowed until the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1789, giving the beatification special meaning for local Catholics. Doors opened at 8 a.m.; a newly painted image of the blesseds was unveiled during the rite, and an exhibit introduced the Guale people who once lived along the coast between Savannah and the Altamaha River. The Mass was livestreamed on the diocesan website and religious television, and ferries ran about every 20 minutes between downtown Savannah and the convention center for attendees.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：萨凡纳会展中心与萨凡纳河。Michael Rivera摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / The Savannah Convention Center and the Savannah River. Photo by Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
