Devasahayam Pillai, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetDevasahayam Pillai
Indian beatified layman
Date of Birth: 23-Apr-1712
Place of Birth: Travancore
Date of Death: 14-Jan-1752
Profession: priest
Zodiac Sign: Taurus 
About Devasahayam Pillai
- Devasahayam Pillai (Malayalam: ???????? ?????) (Tamil: ???????????? ????? ????????? ??????) (23 April 1712 – 14 January 1752), born Neelakanta Pillai in the Kingdom of Travancore, is a beatified Indian layman of the Latin Church.
- Born into a Hindu family in the 18th century, he converted to Catholicism and is considered a martyr of the Christian faith.
- Pillai was an official in the court of the King of Travancore, Maharaja Marthanda Varma, when he came under the influence of Dutch naval commander, Captain Eustachius De Lannoy, who instructed him in the Catholic faith.
- He is believed to have been killed by the Travancore state for upholding his Christian faith.In 2004, at the request of the diocese of Kottar, Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council (TNBC) and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) recommended Devasahayam Pillai for the process of beatification to the Vatican.
- Some Hindu groups objected to this initiative on the grounds that there was no evidence of religious persecution in Travancore during that period, and that Pillai was executed for sedition.
- However, documents dating back to the period of Devasahayam Pillai show that conversion of court officials to Christianity was not tolerated.On 28 June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the martyrdom of Devasahayam Pillai and he was referred to as "Venerable".On 2 December 2012, a ceremony of beatification and declaration of martyrdom was held in Nagercoil, in the Roman Catholic diocese of Kottar in Southern India, presided over by Angelo Cardinal Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, acting as papal delegate.
- Devasahayam Pillai is the first lay man to be elevated to the rank of "Blessed" in India (the step preceding raising a person to Sainthood under the Canon Law of the Catholic Church).
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