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Venerable Servants of God Pedro de Corpa and Companions

Georgia Martyrs to be Beatified October 31, 2026

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In 1595, six Spanish Franciscans came to what is now the Georgia coast to minister to the native people called the Guale.

Two years later, all but one were murdered.

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La Florida

Ask about old Spanish missions in America, and most people will think of the adobe churches from the late eighteenth century that span the coast of California. Yet these missions, however historic and celebrated, were by no means the first of their kind in what is now the United States.

A full two centuries before Bl. Junipero Serra preached to the Native Americans along the West Coast – and more than twenty years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock – Jesuits and then Franciscans established missions in what are now Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. They labored with remarkable courage and devotion to evangelize the native peoples of the region, and tens of thousands were baptized, catechized, and provided the sacraments.

Their mission base was a Spanish settlement on the Florida peninsula, St. Augustine – the oldest still-inhabited city in America, founded in 1565. It was here in La Florida, as the Spanish called the colony, that the Christian faith first took root in the land that today forms the United States.

The Georgia Coast in 1595

By 1595 there were five missions in Coastal Georgia where six Franciscan friars preached the Gospel, learned the indigenous Guale language, and lived peacefully with the native population.  Most Guale natives not only embraced Christianity but also welcomed European goods such as glass beads, metal tools, various cloths and other luxury items. 

The friars lived among the Guale without any military presence – often a single barefoot Franciscan in a village of 1,000 – giving evidence to the good relations between the Guale and the missionaries.

Martyrdom

For two years, the friars lived peacefully among their hosts and received many of them into the Catholic faith. Peace was broken in Tolomato, however, when Friar Pedro de Corpa didn't permit don Juanillo, a baptized Christian and heir to the office of mico mayor – head of the chiefdom – to follow Guale custom by taking a second wife. With his leadership and possibly his inheritance in jeopardy, Juanillo decided to eliminate the friar, killing him on September 14, 1597. Juanillo then assembled a war party and continued to the other Guale missions, killing all of the friars except Francisco de Ávila, who was kidnapped and tortured until St. Augustine’s governor secured his release ten months later. In the ensuing trial, he refused to testify against his attackers, knowing it would mean their deaths.

The Cause for Canonization of Pedro de Corpa and Companions officially began in 1950, with the appointment of Franciscan Fr. Marion Habig as the first Vice-Postulator for the Cause. Between 1950 and 1983, the norms governing the canonization process were revised several times by the Holy See, and it wasn't until 1984 that the Most Reverend Raymond W. Lessard, twelfth Bishop of Savannah, officially accepted the Franciscan petition for canonization of the martyrs and opened the process of Diocesan Investigation. The Diocesan Phase was completed on March 16, 2007 and all documents were submitted to the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Causes of the Saints in Rome.

On January 27, 2025, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to officially recognize the martyrdom of Franciscan missionaries Pedro de Corpa and Four Companions, OFM, murdered “in hatred of the faith” on the coast of Georgia in 1597. Issued more than forty years after their cause was officially opened by the Diocese of Savannah, the decree makes possible the beatification of these venerable servants of God, who will be deemed “Blessed” and worthy of imitation by the faithful in 2026.

Ven. Servants of God Pedro de Corpa and Companions, pray for us!

Traveling Exhibit

A traveling, museum-style exhibit on the Georgia Martyrs is available for use by your parish, school, or organization. Please contact the Catholic Pastoral Center at 912-201-4046 for more information.

Martyrs' Prayer

Please pause and consider a prayer intention

O Lord Jesus Christ, reward the
apostolic zeal of Friar Pedro de Corpa
and his four companion friars,
Blas, Miguel, Antonio and Francisco,
who labored for the spiritual well-being
of the native Guale people of Georgia
and gave their lives in witness
to the Christian faith.
Through their merits and intercession,
graciously grant the favor
I humbly ask of You,
so that, for the glory of Your Name,
their heroic sacrifice may be officially recognized by the Church.

Oración

Haga una pausa y reflexione en una intención de oración.

O Señor Jesucristo, recompensa
el celo apostólico de Fray Pedro de Corpa
y sus cuatro compañeros,
Blas, Miguel, Antonio y Francisco,
quienes trabajaron por el bienestar espiritual
del pueblo indígena Guale de Georgia,
y entregaron su vida en testimonio
de la fe cristiana.
Por sus méritos e intercesión,
concédeme el favor
que humildemente te pido,
para que así su heroico sacrificio
pueda ser oficialmente reconocido por la Iglesia
para la gloria de Tu Santo Nombre.

Sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah

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