Thiruvananthapuram: Devasahayam Pillai, a Hindu converted to Christianity in the 18th century, will become the first Indian layman to be conferred sainthood.
Pope Francis will canonise Blessed Devasahayam Pillai, together with six other Blesseds, during a Canonization Mass in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on May 15, 2022, Church officials said in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
The announcement was made by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican on Tuesday, news agency PTI reported.
With the completion of the process, Pillai, who took the name “Lazarus” after embracing Christianity in 1745, will become the first layperson from India to become a saint, the church said.
“Lazarus” or “Devasahayam” in the local language, meaning “God is my help”.
Sites linked with his life and martyrdom are in Kottar Diocese, in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu.
Devasahayam was declared Blessed on December 2, 2012, in Kottar, 300 years after his birth.
He was born into a Hindu Nair family at Nattalam in Kanyakumari district, which was part of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom, on April 23, 1712.
