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| Pope names first Native American saint | Pope names first Native American saint |
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| Eighty thousand pilgrims, many in flowered lei, feathered headdresses and other traditional attire, gathered in St Peter's Square on Sunday as the pope added seven more saints to the Catholic roster in an attempt to reinvigorate the faith in parts of the world where it is lagging. One of the seven, Kateri Tekakwitha, will be the first Native American saint to be canonised. | Eighty thousand pilgrims, many in flowered lei, feathered headdresses and other traditional attire, gathered in St Peter's Square on Sunday as the pope added seven more saints to the Catholic roster in an attempt to reinvigorate the faith in parts of the world where it is lagging. One of the seven, Kateri Tekakwitha, will be the first Native American saint to be canonised. |
| In his homily, Benedict praised each of the seven as heroic and courageous examples for the church, calling Kateri an inspiration to indigenous faithful across North America. "May the witness of these new saints … speak today to the whole church, and may their intercession strengthen and sustain her in her mission to proclaim the gospel to the whole world," he said. | In his homily, Benedict praised each of the seven as heroic and courageous examples for the church, calling Kateri an inspiration to indigenous faithful across North America. "May the witness of these new saints … speak today to the whole church, and may their intercession strengthen and sustain her in her mission to proclaim the gospel to the whole world," he said. |
| The celebrations began at dawn, with Native Americans in beaded and feathered headdresses and leather-fringed tunics singing songs to the beat of drums. Later, the crowds cheered as the pope read out the names of each of the new saints in Latin and declared that they were worthy of veneration by the entire church. Prayers were read out in Mohawk and Cebuano, the dialect of another saint, Pedro Calungsod, a 17th-century Filipino teenage martyr, and in English by a nun wearing a lei. | The celebrations began at dawn, with Native Americans in beaded and feathered headdresses and leather-fringed tunics singing songs to the beat of drums. Later, the crowds cheered as the pope read out the names of each of the new saints in Latin and declared that they were worthy of veneration by the entire church. Prayers were read out in Mohawk and Cebuano, the dialect of another saint, Pedro Calungsod, a 17th-century Filipino teenage martyr, and in English by a nun wearing a lei. |
| "It's so nice to see God showing all the flavours of the world," said Gene Caldwell, a Native American member of the Menominee reservation in Neopit, Wisconsin, who attended with his wife, Linda. "The Native Americans are enthralled" to have Kateri canonised, he said. | "It's so nice to see God showing all the flavours of the world," said Gene Caldwell, a Native American member of the Menominee reservation in Neopit, Wisconsin, who attended with his wife, Linda. "The Native Americans are enthralled" to have Kateri canonised, he said. |
| Known as the "Lily of the Mohawks", Kateri was born in 1656 to a pagan Iroquois father and an Algonquin Christian mother. Her parents and only brother died when she was four during a smallpox epidemic that left her badly scarred and with impaired eyesight. She went to live with her uncle, a Mohawk, and was baptised Catholic by Jesuit missionaries. But she was ostracised and persecuted by other Native Americans for her faith, and she died in what is now Canada when she was 24. | Known as the "Lily of the Mohawks", Kateri was born in 1656 to a pagan Iroquois father and an Algonquin Christian mother. Her parents and only brother died when she was four during a smallpox epidemic that left her badly scarred and with impaired eyesight. She went to live with her uncle, a Mohawk, and was baptised Catholic by Jesuit missionaries. But she was ostracised and persecuted by other Native Americans for her faith, and she died in what is now Canada when she was 24. |
| Speaking in English and French, in honour of Kateri's Canadian ties, Benedict noted how unusual it was in her culture for her to choose to devote herself to her Catholic faith. "May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are," Benedict said. | Speaking in English and French, in honour of Kateri's Canadian ties, Benedict noted how unusual it was in her culture for her to choose to devote herself to her Catholic faith. "May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are," Benedict said. |
| "Saint Kateri, protectress of Canada and the first Native American saint, we entrust you to the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America." | "Saint Kateri, protectress of Canada and the first Native American saint, we entrust you to the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America." |
| Among the few people chosen to receive communion from the pope himself was Jake Finkbonner, a 12-year-old boy of Native American descent from Washington state in the US. The Vatican determined that Jake had been cured of an infection of flesh-eating bacteria through Kateri's intercession after his family and community invoked her in their prayers, paving the way for her canonisation. | Among the few people chosen to receive communion from the pope himself was Jake Finkbonner, a 12-year-old boy of Native American descent from Washington state in the US. The Vatican determined that Jake had been cured of an infection of flesh-eating bacteria through Kateri's intercession after his family and community invoked her in their prayers, paving the way for her canonisation. |
| The Vatican's complicated saint-making procedure requires that it certify a miracle has been performed through the intercession of the candidate – a medically inexplicable cure that can be directly linked to the prayers offered by the faithful. One miracle is needed for beatification, a second for canonisation. | The Vatican's complicated saint-making procedure requires that it certify a miracle has been performed through the intercession of the candidate – a medically inexplicable cure that can be directly linked to the prayers offered by the faithful. One miracle is needed for beatification, a second for canonisation. |
| The other new saints are: Marianne Cope, a 19th-century Franciscan nun who cared for leprosy patients in Hawaii; Jacques Berthieu, a 19th-century French Jesuit who was killed by rebels in Madagascar, where he had worked as a missionary; Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian who founded a religious order in 1900 and established a Catholic printing and publishing house in his native Brescia; Carmen Salles y Barangueras, a Spanish nun who founded a religious order to educate children in 1892; and Anna Schaeffer, a 19th century German laywoman who became a model for the sick and suffering after she fell into a boiler and badly burned her legs. The wounds never healed, causing her constant pain. | The other new saints are: Marianne Cope, a 19th-century Franciscan nun who cared for leprosy patients in Hawaii; Jacques Berthieu, a 19th-century French Jesuit who was killed by rebels in Madagascar, where he had worked as a missionary; Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian who founded a religious order in 1900 and established a Catholic printing and publishing house in his native Brescia; Carmen Salles y Barangueras, a Spanish nun who founded a religious order to educate children in 1892; and Anna Schaeffer, a 19th century German laywoman who became a model for the sick and suffering after she fell into a boiler and badly burned her legs. The wounds never healed, causing her constant pain. |
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