| Martyrs of Natal | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Monument to the martyrs inSão Gonçalo do Amarante,Brazil | |
| Died |
|
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 5 March 2000,Saint Peter's Square,Vatican City,byPope John Paul II |
| Canonized | 15 October 2017, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City,byPope Francis |
| Feast | 3 October |
| Attributes | Palm branch |
| Patronage | Rio Grande do Norte[1] |
| Notable martyrs | |
TheMartyrs of Natal were a group of 30Catholic people ofColonial Brazil – two of thempriests – killed in the northern part of the territory in massacres led by a group ofDutchCalvinists.[2] Onepriest was a Colonial BrazilianJesuit missionary, while the other priest was an evangelizer. The others were all layCatholics, most of them anonymous members of the Church, some of them children.[3][4][5]
The 30 individuals were beatified inSaint 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.
TheNatal region was colonized after thePortugueseCatholics arrived but theDutchCalvinists 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 somepriests moved to the area in order to sustain the people in their faith.
André de Soveral was born in Brazil in 1572. He was a professed member of theSociety of Jesus, having entered theJesuits in 1593 and making his period ofnovitiate inBahia. He studiedLatin – as well as the native language – and theological studies before being sent to the college inOlinda.[3] His first experience in the missions was inRio Grande do Norte in 1606 amongst the natives, forcatechism lessons. In 1614 he was a parish priest in Cunhaú.
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 theEucharistic rite that Dutch soldiers attacked the chapel and murdered Soveral and a companion – Domingos Carvalho – along with others.[2]
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]
The 2 individuals killed on 16 July 1645 are:
The 28 individuals killed on 3 October 1645 are:
The beatification process opened in Natal on 6 June 1989 after theCongregation for the Causes of Saints issued the official "nihil obstat" and titled them all asServants 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 thePositio 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 inSaint 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.
Thepostulator for this cause at the time of the canonization was Giovangiuseppe Califano.
