RICHMOND, Va. -- Bishop Walter F. Sullivan of Richmond has opened a diocesan tribunal for the sainthood cause of the eight Spanish Jesuits who were put to death in 1571 defending their Catholic faith near what is now Yorktown and Williamsburg.

The bishop appointed Father Russell Smith as postulator of the cause. The first tribunal meeting to begin gathering information supporting the cause of canonization was held June 26.

"The cause of canonization for martyrs does not require proof of miracles," Father Smith told The Catholic Virginian, Richmond's diocesan newspaper. All that must be proved is that they died for the faith.

Nevertheless, Father Smith said he wants to hear from that anyone with knowledge of miracles or "favors granted" after praying to the Spanish Jesuit martyrs.

Bishop Sullivan said in a statement that he had consulted other bishops who had "indicated that the cause is opportune" and were "convinced of the solid foundation for the cause and that no obstacles exist." The diocese received authorization March 2 from the Vatican's Congregation for Saints' Causes to proceed.

Father Smith, pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Quinton and a judge with the diocesan tribunal, began inquiring about beginning the canonization process when he met with Jesuit Father Paolo Molinari, postulator general for the Society of Jesus, in Rome last year.

The eight men were killed by American Indians. Two of the victims were Jesuit priests: Fathers Juan Bautista de Segura, Jesuit vice provincial of Havana, Cuba, and Luis de Quiros, former head of the Jesuit college among the Moors in Spain. Three were Jesuit brothers and three were novices in the society.

An historical marker was erected several years ago near Aquia Harbor in Stafford County to commemorate the eight Jesuits as well as the Brent family, considred the first permanent Catholic settlers in Virginia. The marker is located in front of a large crucifix on Route 1. The Brent family cemetery is located nearby.

Father Smith said the Jesuits who came to what is now Virginia in September 1570 -- 37 years before the English settled at Jamestown in 1607 -- were missionaries who arrived at an Indian village near Yorktown.

Father Segura came unaccompanied by the customary contingent of Spanish troops. This factor is considered significant in seeking the cause for canonization, Father Smith said.

Father Segura felt that the missionaries "had the best chance of bringing the word of God" to the native peoples "by not bringing troops because the soldiers generally set a bad example and acted scandalously," he explained.

"This proves the mission was entirely evangelical. The Spanish missionaries were not interested in political advantage or territorial expansion," he added.

The Jesuits arrived in Virginia after a long period of famine in the area and other parts of the mid-Atlantic. "The food they brought with them was in short supply," Father Smith said. "Immediately there was a dependence on the Indians for food."

The Jesuits had been accompanied by their Indian guide, Don Luis, who was originally from the region's Tidewater area and had been taken to Spain "where he was received with great honor and respect," Father Smith said. Also with them a young Spanish boy, Alonso Olmos, called Aloncito, who came to serve Mass with the priests.

But Luis, the Indian guide, left the Jesuits after only a few days.

On Feb. 4, 1571, Father Segura sent the other priest and two novices to plead with Luis to return to them. When they arrived at the Indian camp, Indians killed the three missionaries.

Five days later, Luis arrived at St. Mary's Mission and killed the remaining Jesuits.

"Aloncito alone remained alive and begged to be killed with the Jesuits," Father Smith said. "But they spared the life of the young altar boy. Luis' brother, who was a chief of a tribe, was his protector and guardian until the Spanish sent a rescue mission a year and a half later in August 1572."

"Aloncito is the key," Father Smith said. "He is the one by whom we know all things."

But the memory of what happened to the Spanish Jesuit missionaries has remained alive the past 451 years.

A book, The Spanish Jesuit Mission in Virginia, was published in 1953 for the Virginia Historical Society by the University of North Carolina Press.

The story has been retold in past generations in public schools in the area, a historical marker about the Spanish missionaries is at College Creek, and a stained-glass window of Father Segura with the term "martyr" is in St. Paul Church in Richmond.