Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, will canonize the first Native American saint, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, on October 22, 2012 in Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

“We’ve been waiting for this for so long. Now that it’s here, it’s unbelievable. We’re overjoyed! …With the elevation of one of our own to the altars, the universal Church will know that we have a person from our community who has climbed to the heights of holiness and attained a deep relationship with God.”

-Sister Kateri Mitchell, S.S.A., Executive Director, National Tekakwitha Conference (link to article)

Official Canonization Pilgrimage to Rome – Deposit deadline is May 15! Click here for more information.

Find out more about how Blessed Kateri walked the Christian and Native way of life.

Special Kateri events in New York this summer:

- Kateri Tekakwitha Pilgrimage – June 9, 2 PM (Mass at 4 PM), Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, Lewiston, NY

- Kateri Tekakwitha Powwow – July 4-8, National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Fonda, NY

- Mass for the Feast of Blessed Kateri – July 14, 6 PM, Holy Family Chapel, 5180 Chew Road, Sanborn, NY (Tuscarora Indian Nation).

- 73rd Annual Tekakwitha Conference – July 18-22, Albany, NY