Gonsalo Garcia [SEP] canonization status
Gonsalo Garcia
Gonsalo Garcia, O.F.M. (; 1556 – 5 February 1597), was a Franciscan lay brother from Portuguese India, who died as a martyr in Japan and is venerated as a saint, one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan so venerated. The first Indian born to attain sainthood was born in the western coastal town of Baçaim, later Bassein in English (now known as Vasai, an exurb of the city of Mumbai. During his lifetime, the town was under Portuguese colonial rule. 
Historical background
who got married with a local woman was given certain privileges. So Garcia’s father was permitted to quit the job and stayed in the fort as a civilian employee, and because of that his family came to reside inside the fort. He studied at the Jesuit school of Fort Bassein and helped in their "Igreja do Santo Nome de Jesus" (Church of the Holy Name of Jesus), now known as St. Gonsalo Garcia Church. Here Garcia came into contact with the Jesuit priest, Sebastião Gonsalves, who became a