Sault represented at Vatican canonization of Aboriginal saint
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 by: SooToday.com Staff
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A Canadian all-party federal delegation attending the canonization of the First North American Aboriginal saint at the Vatican on October 21, 2012, included Sault MP Bryan Hayes.
As reported in an earlier SooToday.com article, Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 to a Mohawk father and Christian Algonquin mother in present-day New York State.
Shortly after her baptism at age 20, she moved to a Christian Mohawk village in present-day Kahnawake, Quebec on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Montréal.
She died there at 24.
Since her death, many miracles have been attributed to her, making her a beloved figure in the Catholic Church, notably for First Nations in both Canada and the United States.
Her tomb is located at the St. Francis Xavier Mission in Kahnawake.
Kateri Tekakwitha was declared venerable by Pope Pius XII in 1943 and beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.
She was made a saint by Pope Benedict XVI.
“The story of Kateri Tekakwitha is pious and it is powerful,” says Hayes in a news release. “Her elevation to sainthood is a momentous occasion for Canadian Catholics and many First Nations people, as well as a deep honour for Canada.”
