This week in Christian history: Jesuits killed in Va., pope canonizes saint, black UMC caucus formed

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 31, 2021

Jesuits martyred in Virginia — February 4, 1571

A seventeenth-century engraving depicting the martyrdom of Jesuit missionary Juan Baptista de Segura and his companions in modern-day Virginia on February 8, 1571. | Internet Archive

This week marks the anniversary of Catholic priest Juan Baptista de Segura and a group of Jesuit missionaries being martyred for their faith in what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia.

A native of Spain who joined the Society of Jesus in 1556, Segura pressured Florida Gov. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to allow him to travel to the region, then called “Ajacán.”

The Jesuits arrived in September of 1570, setting up the mission near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. They reported through correspondence with a Spanish official in Cuba that they were initially well-received by the native population.

However, a Native American warrior named Paquiquineo murdered three Jesuits who had traveled to his village to meet with him. He then led a group to the mission site and killed everyone except an altar boy, according to Encylopedia Virginia.