17th-century Catholic martyrs
The
Martyrs of Natal
were a group of 30
Roman Catholic
people of
Colonial Brazil
? two of them
priests
? killed in the northern part of the colony in massacres that a large group of
Dutch
Calvinists
led.
[2]
One
priest
was a Colonial Brazilian
Jesuit
missionary, while the other priest was an evangelizer himself. The others were all lay
Catholics
, most of them anonymous members of the Church, some of them children.
[3]
[4]
[5]
The 30 individuals were beatified in
Saint Peter's Square
on 5 March 2000.
Pope Francis
? on 23 March 2017 ? signed a decree that approved their canonization while waiving the miracle required for sainthood; the date was formalized at a gathering of cardinals on 20 April and the group was canonized as saints on 15 October 2017.
Lives and murders
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Background
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The
Natal
region was colonized after the
Portuguese
Catholics
arrived but the
Dutch
Calvinists
soon took over and spread their anti-Catholic sentiment across the region, while making persecution of all remaining Catholics an objective for them.
[2]
Despite the air of persecution some
priests
moved to the area in order to sustain the people in their faith.
Andre de Soveral
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Andre de Soveral
was born in Brazil in 1572. He was a professed member of the
Society of Jesus
, having entered the
Jesuits
in 1593 and making his period of
novitiate
in
Bahia
. He studied
Latin
? as well as the native language ? and theological studies before being sent to the college in
Olinda
.
[3]
His first experience in the missions was in
Rio Grande do Norte
in 1606 amongst the natives, for
catechism
lessons. In 1614 he was a parish priest in Cunhau.
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
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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
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The 2 individuals killed on 16 July 1645 are:
The 28 individuals killed on 3 October 1645 are:
- Ambrosio Francisco Ferro
? priest
- Antonio Vilela ? married layman
- A daughter of Vilela ? young laywoman
- Jose do Porto ? layman
- Francisco de Bastos ? layman
- Diogo Pereira ? layman
- Joao Lostau Navarro ? layman
- Antonio Vilela Cid ? layman
- Estevao 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
- Joao da Silveira ? layman
- Simao Correia ? layman
- Antonio Baracho ? layman
- Mateus Moreira
? layman
- Joao 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
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The beatification process opened in Natal on 6 June 1989 after the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
issued the official "
nihil obstat
" and titled them all as
Servants of God
. The diocesan process spanned from 1989 until 1994 and the C.C.S. later validated this process on 25 November 1994 before receiving the
Positio
in 1998.
The theologians approved the cause on 23 June 1998 as did the C.C.S. on 10 November 1998.
Pope John Paul II
confirmed that the group were all killed "in odium fidei" (in hated of the faith) and thus approved their beatifications. He presided over the beatification celebration in
Saint Peter's Square
on 5 March 2000.
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
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External links
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