Saint Berard of Carbio | |
---|---|
Religious, priest and martyr | |
Born | unknown Carbio, Umbria, Papal States |
Died | Morocco | 16 January 1220
Venerated in | Catholic Church (Franciscan Order) |
Canonized | 7 August 1481, Rome by Pope Sixtus IV[1] |
Major shrine | Monastery of the Holy Cross, Coimbra, Portugal |
Feast | 16 January |
Berard of Carbio was a thirteenth-century Franciscan friar who was executed in Morocco for attempting to promote Christianity. He and his companions, Peter, Otho, Accursius, and Adjutus, are venerated as Catholic saints and considered the Franciscan Protomartyrs. Expelled from the kingdom twice, they returned each time and continued to preach against Islam. In anger and frustration, the king finally beheaded them.