Status of the Cause

Home The heroic death of the Servants of God was recognized from the beginning. An official Franciscan report to his Majesty Philip III on October 16, 1612, bears witness : "In the early days we experienced great hardships along with threats of death. On various occasions the Natives tried to kill us--as indeed in the Province of Guale they did slay five friars and capture others. Though they did not kill them because of doctrine, it is certain that they slew them because of the Law of God they were teaching them and because of our moral precepts--so contrary to their way of life and their customs.

"Specifically they slew them because we would not consent that any married Christian should have more than one wife. It was for that very reason, and no other, that John the Baptist was beheaded--for he had reproved Herod for that very same thing. This is the reason which Indians gave and, recognizing their sin, this day cite for their slaying of the friars. It is a recognized fact in this land that since the death of these blessed religious the Native people have been turning more docile and peaceful, attaining their present state. It is the pious belief that these blessed ones are in God's presence, interceding for the conversion of this land."

Although martyrologies, chronicles, and histories continued to recall the heroic deaths of the Martyrs of Georgia, only in the 1950s did the Franciscans begin in earnest the movement for beatification.

On February 22, 1984, the Bishop of Savannah, Raymond W. Lessard, officially opened the Cause of Beatification of these "Martyrs for Marriage." Work on the Cause continues to advance today with the endorsement and encouragement of the present Bishop, J. Kevin Boland.