SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Nearly 430 years after they were killed in a bloody uprising by Native people they came to the New World to baptize, five Spanish missionaries will be elevated to a step away from sainthood during a religious ceremony in Georgia.

The Catholic Diocese of Savannah expects 10,000 people Saturday for its ceremony of beatification for the Franciscan friars slain in 1597. After decades of research, advocacy and bureaucratic review, the Vatican concluded last year that the five missionaries were martyred defending Christian values and therefore eligible for the title “blessed.”

The friars’ self-sacrifice makes their story stand out more than four centuries later, said Bishop Stephen Parkes, who leads the Savannah diocese.

“Likely we will not be called to be martyrs, especially living in a country where we enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Parkes said.…