The venue for the upcoming beatification of the Georgia Martyrs is expanding to accommodate thousands more people after a surge in interest from Catholics around the U.S. and the world.

"The martyrs stood up for the sanctity of marriage," Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah, Georgia, told OSV News of the five Franciscan friars from Spain who died in present-day Georgia in the 16th century. "It gives us an opportunity really to … reinforce the Church's teaching on marriage."

The martyrs' beatification Mass scheduled for Oct. 31 in Savannah, Georgia, is changing spaces within the Savannah Convention Center to welcome roughly 12,000 people instead of the 2,000 originally planned. The move comes as Catholics across the country and from Spain are expressing interest in attending, including some with historical connections to the martyrs. The relatives of one martyr may also travel from Spain.

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Toronto's Cardinal Frank Leo, along with Parkes, will preside over the solemn liturgy marking the beatification and elevation to “Blessed” of the five martyrs, celebrating their enduring legacy of evangelization, courage, reconciliation and devotion to Christ. Leo is representing Pope Leo XIV as the Papal Legate at the ceremony.

The Franciscan missionaries' beatification coincides with the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi that coincides with the 800th anniversary of his death. It will mark the sixth beatification on U.S. soil and the first in Georgia, according to Jill Parks, managing director of communications for the Diocese of Savannah.

All five Franciscan martyrs traveled from Spain to minister to the native Guale people in present-day Georgia. Venerable Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añon, Antonio de Badajoz and Francisco de Veráscola died for their faith in 1597. The violent murders began after Friar Pedro de Corpa forbade the heir to a Guale chiefdom and a baptized Christian, Juanillo, from following his culture's custom and taking a second wife.

"Our Franciscans were in those first waves of Catholics coming to what's now the U.S., which is just amazing," Parks told OSV News. "Then on top of this, they were martyred for defending Christian marriage.

"A lot of people have been very inspired by them giving their lives essentially for that and for Christian teaching."

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As soon as the date for the beatification was announced, Parks said calls from across the country started pouring in.

"We figured it was really going to be a local Georgia event," Parks said. "We did not expect that it would be sort of a nationwide thing."

Among those from Spain hoping to attend are Archbishop Joan Enric Vives i Sicília, Bishop emeritus of Urgell, who plans to serve as a representative of Spain, Parks said. Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo of Mérida-Badajoz, who leads the archdiocese where Friar Antonio de Badajoz was raised, also expressed interest in attending and bringing the pastor of the friar's home parish with him.

Parks said the diocese has also received a call from Church leaders from Friar Francisco de Veráscola's hometown. The pastor and several other people from the friar's home parish hope to attend. Parks learned from them that the friar also still has relatives in that area.

"We're hoping that some of them might actually come to attend the beatification, which would be amazing," she said.

Parkes called the beatification "a new beginning" to continue to learn more about the history of Catholicism in Georgia, and to ask for the martyrs' intercession for marriage and family life.

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He also hoped it encourages every person to seek Hheaven.

"There's a human interest in, well, how is the Church recognizing particular individuals for their holiness?" Parkes said of Catholics worldwide. "I think that it can inspire each one of us personally in our own road to holiness."