Martyrs of Natal | |
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![]() Monument to the martyrs in São Gonçalo do Amarante, Brazil | |
Died |
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Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
Beatified | 5 March 2000, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, by Pope John Paul II |
Canonized | 15 October 2017, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, by Pope Francis |
Feast | 3 October |
Attributes | Palm branch |
Patronage | Rio Grande do Norte[1] |
Notable 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.