John de Brito
Portuguese Jesuit missionary and martyr
Feast: 4 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
João de Brito was born in Lisbon on 1 March 1647 and as a boy was a page at the royal court. When he fell gravely ill his mother vowed to St Francis Xavier that, if he recovered, he would wear the Jesuit habit for a year; he recovered, and asked to become a Jesuit in earnest. Ordained in 1673, he was sent to India.
Living like the holy ascetics of the region, he converted many. When the prince Tadaia Theva, healed of an illness, asked for baptism and had to keep only one of his five wives, the anger of the raja fell on the missionary, who was martyred at Oriur in the kingdom of Marava in 1693.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A Jesuit who became Indian to the Indians for Christ and died a martyr there.
Connected on this site
- Francis Xavier Saint“Francis Xavier" by Indian Catholics.” — Wikipedia
- John the Baptist Saint“He is also called "the John the Baptist of India."” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Giovanni de Britto
- Wikidata Q730029 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — John de Britto (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.