Thousands attend beatification of Martyr Devasahayam Pillai India
December 03, 2012 - Some 100,000 people witnessed the beatification ceremony of
Indian martyr Devasahayam Pillai, organized at the Carmel school campus, Nagercoil,
in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state on Sunday. Acting on behalf of Pope Benedict
XVI, Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of
Saints, officially declared Pillai a Blessed of the Catholic Church. Beatification
is the last step before canonization when a candidate is proclaimed a saint. “It’s
a great moment not only for Kottar diocese but also for the devotees, cutting across
caste and religion,” said Fr. Antony Gabriel, who has been heading the local committee
working for the beatification process of Pillai. Cardinal Amato was joined at the
beatification Mass by Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, Apostolic Nuncio to India,
four Indian cardinals and more than forty archbishops and bishops. Over thousand priests
and sisters also attended. Political and civil leaders were also present. Devasahayam
Pillai, an upper-caste Hindu convert to Catholicism, was martyred for his faith on
January 14, 1752.