Georgia martyrs and the American missionary spirit

The Church will beatify five Franciscan missionaries on Oct. 31. The missionaries were martyred in 1597 along the coast of what is now the state of Georgia.

These missionaries arrived in the region more than two decades before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth. They established missions among the Guale people, where they learned local languages and customs to preach the Gospel and celebrate the sacraments.

The beatification follows the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, which Catholics marked on Oct. 3, and precedes World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18.