Georgia Martyrs Beatification: Bishops Offer Mass at Graves Before October 31 Ceremony

They took a long boat ride and then a journey along dirt roads to reach a place most people will never be allowed to visit. On October 29, 2026, a group of more than 40 bishops, priests, Franciscans and other pilgrims gathered on St. Catherines Island in Georgia to offer Mass where two men died for their faith more than 400 years ago.

The five Franciscan missionaries known as the Georgia Martyrs will be beatified on October 31, 2026, in Savannah, Georgia. Friars Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodriguez, Miguel de Anon, Antonio de Badajoz and Francisco de Verascola all came from Spain as missionaries to the Guale people in coastal Georgia, unaccompanied by soldiers, and all five were killed within days of each other in 1597.

The friars were killed by order of the soon-to-be chief Juanillo after Father Pedro de Corpa stood by the Church's teaching on marriage when Juanillo wanted to take a second wife, according to OSV News. That single refusal set off attacks on the Franciscans serving at different missions along the coast, and the five were hunted down and killed between September 14 and 17, 1597.

Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah led seven visiting bishops on the island visit, including Bishop Erik T. Pohlmeier of St. Augustine, Florida, as well as Friar Gianni Califano, the postulator of the cause of the martyrs, who travelled from Rome.

What would you give your life for?

That is the question Bishop Parkes told OSV News he has been putting before young people receiving confirmation as his diocese prepares for the beatification. He said the martyrs' story has relevance for today because people hear so many divergent opinions and ask what they believe, and what they feel so strongly about that they would shed their blood for it.

St. Catherines Island: The Graves Found After Centuries

Friars Antonio and Miguel served on the Mission Santa Catalina de Guale on St. Catherines Island, and they were killed on the island after celebrating Mass at the mission. According to OSV News, they were warned of the impending attack but chose to remain with the Guale people and spent their final hours in prayer.

After the Spanish left Santa Catalina for good in 1680, the mission on the island was lost for centuries until it was rediscovered in the 1980s by archaeologist David Hurst Thomas of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Luckily, Thomas said, the first three test pits turned out to be the mission's well, kitchen and church, leading to the graves of Friars Antonio de Badajoz and Miguel de Anon, the only two known graves from among the Georgia Martyrs.

The remains of the mission church, where 432 Guale Catholics are buried, are marked by palm trees planted at every major support of the original structure. Thomas called it a living church, and four bishops have now said Mass there over the years.

Georgia Martyrs 1597: Five Men, Five Different Lives

Bishop Parkes told OSV News the five martyrs were distinct people, not five copies of the same man. Blas was a calm and devout pastor, Miguel was a gentle musician, and Antonio was a gifted communicator.

Each one suffered individually, Parkes said, and each made the decision to give his life for the faith.

The cause of the martyrs was brought forward in the 1950s by the Franciscans, and in 1984 the late Bishop Raymond W. Lessard officially opened it on behalf of the diocese. Their deaths were formally recognised as martyrdom by the Holy See in 2025.

Readers following Catholic life in America can see related coverage in Pope Leo XIV calling the popemobile an instrument of encounter, in the Vatican admitting flaws in the China deal while vowing to keep talking, and in Pope Leo XIV requesting a mail ballot in a historic first for a sitting pope. The Georgia story sits apart from all three, because it is not about a headline from Rome but about five men who stayed when they were warned to leave.

Savannah Beatification: More Than 8,000 Expected on October 31

On October 30, just ahead of the beatification, the Diocese of Savannah was also due to lead visiting bishops, Franciscans and pilgrims on a trip to Fort King George in Darien, Georgia, where Friar Francisco de Verascola is believed to have served. The beatification Mass itself will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on October 31 at the Savannah Convention Center by Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto, serving as papal legate, and the liturgy, wich will be livestreamed and broadcast by EWTN, is expected to draw pilgrims from across the state.

Bishop Parkes said the diocese is expecting more than 8,000 people to attend, and that it has already had to expand the event to a larger venue. The Mass is not ticketed, and seats are first come, first served, with doors opening at 8 a.m.

Parkes also said the October 31 date was the diocese's first choice, submitted to the dicastery for approval. Halloween, he said, has taken a dark turn in recent decades, and the beatification is a reminder that the day is really All Hallows' Eve, followed by All Saints' Day.

A Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist on All Saints' Day, recognising the new blesseds alongside all the saints.

Parkes hopes the beatification will lead married and engaged couples in the diocese to look to the martyrs for intercession for loyalty, faithfulness and fidelity in marriage. Will a story from 1597, told on an island most pilgrims can never visit, change how a couple preparing for marriage in Georgia talks about faithfulness this winter? The bishops who stood on that dirt road on October 29 clearly believe it might, and on October 31 more than 8,000 people will get to decide for themselves.

But the most surprising part of this story is yet to come — keep reading.