Martyrs of Natal
Martyrs of Natal | ||
---|---|---|
Attributes Palm branch | | |
Patronage | Rio Grande do Norte[1] | |
Notable martyrs |
The Martyrs of Natal were a group of 30
The 30 individuals were beatified in
Lives and murders
Background
The
Despite the air of persecution some
André de Soveral
On 16 July 1645 – a Sunday – there were 69 people gathered in the chapel of Our Lady of the Candles for a Mass that Soveral presided over. It was just before the Eucharistic rite that Dutch soldiers attacked the chapel and murdered Soveral and a companion – Domingos Carvalho – along with others.[2]
October massacre
On 3 October 1645 a total of 200 armed natives with their Dutch allies targeted and hacked to death 30 individuals including children and one priest.[2] The leader of this group was the radical Calvinist Antonio Paraopaba.[4] Mateus Moreira – a victim of the onslaught – cried out as he died: "Praise be the Blessed Sacrament".[5]
Individuals
The 2 individuals killed on 16 July 1645 are:
- Jesuit priest[6]
- Domingos Carvalho – layman
The 28 individuals killed on 3 October 1645 are:
- Ambrósio Francisco Ferro – priest
- Antônio Vilela – married layman
- A daughter of Vilela – young laywoman
- José do Porto – layman
- Francisco de Bastos – layman
- Diogo Pereira – layman
- João Lostau Navarro – layman
- Antônio Vilela Cid – layman
- Estêvão Machado de Miranda – married layman
- A daughter of de Miranda – young laywoman
- A daughter of de Miranda – young laywoman
- Vicente de Souza Pereira – layman
- Francisco Mendes Pereira – layman
- João da Silveira – layman
- Simão Correia – layman
- Antônio Baracho – layman
- Mateus Moreira – layman
- João Martins – layman
- 7 lay companions of Martins
- Manuel Rodrigues de Moura – married layman
- The wife of Moura – married laywoman
- A daughter of Francisco Dias – laywoman
Canonization
The beatification process opened in Natal on 6 June 1989 after the
The theologians approved the cause on 23 June 1998 as did the C.C.S. on 10 November 1998.
Pope Francis had expressed in the past his closeness to this particular cause and expressed willingness to canonize them as saints. The C.C.S. met on 14 March 2017 to discuss the omission of the miracle needed for canonization and voiced their approval of that. The pope approved the canonization on 23 March 2017 in an official decree with the date formalized at a gathering of cardinals on 20 April; the group was canonized in Saint Peter's Square on 15 October 2017.
The postulator for this cause at the time of the canonization was Giovangiuseppe Califano.
References
- ^ RN ganha mártires como padroeiros
- ^ a b c d "Martyrs of Brazil". Saints SQPN. 16 July 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Blessed André de Soveral, S.J." Manresa. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Blessed André de Soveral and Domingo Carvalho". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Blessed Catholic Martyrs of Brazil". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
- ^ Jesuit André de Soveral Among New Saints Canonized by Pope Francis Archived 2017-10-25 at the Wayback Machine from Jesuits.org, retrieved 24 October 2017