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.