My wife Marie and I recently attended the Beatification Mass for the Georgia Martyrs in Savannah. The Mass took place on Saturday, October 31, 2026, at the Savannah Convention Center and began at 11 a.m. Attendance was far larger than first planned: organizers expanded the space from an original estimate of 2,000 to make room for roughly 12,000 people, and news reports put the crowd at somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 faithful from across the country.
The Georgia Martyrs are five Spanish Franciscan Friars Minor who were killed in 1597 along the coast of what is now Georgia. Beatification is an important step on the path to sainthood, and it gives those honored the title “Blessed.” The effort to recognize the friars gained momentum in 2007, when the Diocese of Savannah formally filed their cause with the Vatican, and this celebration marked the culmination of nearly two decades of that work.
Cardinal Frank Leo, Archbishop of Toronto, served as the Holy Father’s representative and was the principal celebrant. Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv., and Bishop Stephen Parkes of Savannah concelebrated alongside other bishops. During the Mass, the official beatification image of the martyrs, a watercolor by Savannah artist Jared Seff, was unveiled. It was a quite extraordinary day.
