Devasahayam Pillai: Indian Hindu who converted to Christianity to be first layman to get sainthood

Devasahayam Pillai, an 18th-century Hindu convert to Christianity, would be the first Indian layman to be made a saint.

Blessed Devasahayam Pillai, along with six other Blesseds, will be canonised by Pope Francis on May 15, 2022, during a Canonization Mass in St Peter's Basilica in Vatican.

The declaration was announced on Tuesday by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

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With the conclusion of the procedure, Pillai, who adopted the name "Lazarus" after accepting Christianity in 1745, would become the first secular person from India to be named a saint, according to the church.

In the local tongue, "Lazarus" or "Devasahayam" means "God is my rescue."

He was born into a Hindu Nair family at Nattalam in Kanyakumari district, which was part of erstwhile Travancore kingdom, on 23 April, 1712.

Sites associated with his lifemay be found in the Kottar Diocese in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari region.

Devasahayam was blessed 300 years after his birth on December 2, 2012, at Kottar.

(With inputs from agencies)