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Lucas Jackson / Reuters
A statue of St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Auriesville, New York, seen on Friday.
VATICAN CITY - She was known as Lily of the Mohawks, or the Pocahontas of the Catholic Church. But on Sunday, Kateri Tekakwitha went down in history as the first Native American saint.
Born more than 300 years ago in the Mohawks village of Ossernion - today Ausierville, forty miles from Albany NY - she was one of seven people canonized by Pope Benedict XVI Sunday in an open-air ceremony held in Saint Peter’s Square.
One of the remaining six was also American: Mother Marianne Cope, a 19th century Franciscan nun who cared for leprosy patients in Hawaii.
Kateri had a short life – she died at 24 – and yet, as for most saints, her devotion to Christianity, sacrifices and “heroic virtue” were so inspirational that her legacy survived for generations.
Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Pope Benedict XVI kisses the altar as he celebrates a canonization ceremony, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday.
Her mother was a Christian Algonquin woman who was captured during a raid and given as wife to a Mohawks tribal member. She was born in the middle of the 17th century, a time of infighting between rival American tribes, deadly diseases and colonization. And a time when French Jesuit priests preached in the area, trying to convert locals to Christianity.
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Kateri was only four years old when a smallpox epidemic spread among the Mohawks tribe. Her parents and younger brother were killed and although she survived she was left with permanent scars on her face and an impaired vision. The Jesuit priests were held accountable for having brought the disease, and three of them were slaughtered.
Tiziana Fabi / AFP - Getty Images
A faithful wearing Indian headress attends a special mass to name seven new saints in St Peter's square at Vatican on Sunday.
And yet, at the age of 20, Kateri swapped the Totem for the Crucifix.
She converted to Catholicism after living close to French Jesuit priests, something her family and village saw as a betrayal for siding up with colonizers. She soon became a pariah in her own tribe after refusing to marry a Mohawk man, and was forced to leave the village to practice freely her new faith. She walked hundreds of miles to Quebec, Canada, to join a community of Christian women, and took a vow of lifetime chastity.
Soon her devotion led to self-inflicted painful penances. She is believed to have walked barefoot in show, for whipping herself bloody with reeds, praying hours in an unheated chapel on her bare knees on a cold stone floor or for sleeping on a bed of thorns.
In the end, the punishing penances are believed to have contributed to the weakening of her health, until her premature death at 24 years old. And it was immediately after her death, the legend goes, that it became clear she would be on her way to sainthood. Her smallpox scars, witnesses claimed, miraculously disappeared minutes after her death.
Although the petition for her canonization was filed in 1884, she was only blessed – the first step to become a saint – by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
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The miracle that sealed her sainthood came in 2006, when Jake Finkbonner, then a 5-year old boy from Ferndale, WA, miraculously recovered from a flash-eating bacteria, allegedly through Kateri’s intercession. Jake contracted Necrotizing fasciitis, a potentially deadly infection, after cutting his lip on a baseball field. In a matter of days, his condition became so critical his parents gave him his last rites and discussed donating his organs.
When medical help seemed hopeless, his father Donny, a Catholic member of the native American Lummi tribe, turned to Kateri, already an icon in the local catholic community and the subject of many stories he heard as a child. His congregation prayed Kateri and his mother even placed a small relic, a small piece of Tekakwitha’s wrist bone, on his body. Soon after, Jake recovered.
On his website, Jake also remembers the role played by doctors: “Please don't confuse the issue which is that my survival is a miracle”, he writes. “We thank the doctors at Children's Hospital for all that they did to save my life. I wouldn't be here without them”.
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The canonization of Kateri has been welcomed with mixed feelings in the 2.5 million-strong Native American community. While most of the 680,000 catholic Native Americans are thrilled to finally have their own saint and icon, others still resent the role of Catholicism during the colonial era and the way it affected the indigenous traditions, culture and customs.
Some traveled to Rome to see the ceremony. Dressed in a traditional Indian Squaw brown dress and braided hair, Valery Moran had come from Saskatchewan, Canada, to support her hero. “I am honored to witness the canonization of our first aboriginal saint”, she told NBC News.
"She is my role model, I named my baby after her. My baby is called Kateri."
Bill Volker, a falconer and sole representative of the Comanche Nation, had mixed feelings about the canonization. "It’s bittersweet, but I am delighted. It’s the right direction after all these years,” he told NBC News in St. Peter’s Square. “Our relationship with the all churches have not always been the best in the Americas, but I think this heralds a new day for us”.
The Vatican's complicated saint-making procedure requires that the Vatican certify a "miracle" was 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 canonization.
The five other new saints are: 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 lay woman 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 Associated Press contributed to this report.
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95% of the world suffers from a mass delusion.
Not 95% anymore. In three generations, religion will be dead. The young people have been rejecting religion in the tens of millions.
buttefly, once again, are you serious? you think the muslims in pakistan, afghanistan, etc are going to quit their religion over time? you have absolutely no clue about anything it appears.
I hope it will come to that, BM. But most likely not after the WW3.
Granted, it will take longer for Islam to die, but I think it will eventually die off. Once Christianity is gone, Islam won't have anyone to fight, and the religion will collapse in on itself.
Mage,
Christianity will never die off, for Jesus said, "I will build my Church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." The day of the Lord is coming, a time of great distress such as the world has not seen from the beginning til now or shall ever be. God is going to be pouring out his wrath upon the earth soon and that antichrist with his false prophet will be here during that time. By the time God's wrath is over, the population of the earth will have been decimated and the earth will be in shambles. Those who worship the beast, his image and receive his mark for the sake of buying and selling will have no hope of eternal life and will be thrown ito the lake of fire.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will comein and eath with him, and he with me.
If you open the door, Jesus will dwell within you through the Holy Spirit and you will have forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life. But without him, you have nothing to look forward to but separation from God and torment in flame in the lake of fire and that because sin must be dealt with one way or another. Ether you believe in Christ who already paid for your sins and are credited with righteousness for faith or you remain unrighteous and pay for them yourself.
What an amazingly awesome thing God did for us through his Son. No wonder the penalty for rejecting him is so high!
The Church is running out of places to hawk their wares. In the USA, 30% of people under 30 reject religion. In Europe, it's even higher. Nobody with a brain is interested in mindless, blind hate -- and that's all Christianity has to offer these days.
In mathematics, two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other. By that benchmark, the Church and the Republican Party are basically one in the same.
BM, statistics does not mean there is no GOD because more and more reject the existence of god.
The existence of God does not require the existence of religion.
"She is believed to have walked barefoot in show (sic) (snow), for whipping herself bloody with reeds, praying hours in an unheated chapel on her bare knees on a cold stone floor or for sleeping on a bed of thorns.In the end, the punishing penances are believed to have contributed to the weakening of her health, until her premature death at 24 years old."
The above direst quote from article shows the insane nature of this young woman. The Catholic church embraces mental illness as a sign of holliness & as a means of bringing oneself closer to God.
Not to mention the misery the church cast on native peoples, giving gifts of smallpox blankets to those that refused to convert among other travesties. There will be those that rush to defend the church as they do when a priest is accused/convicted of child molestation. These people display a hint of mental illness or at least unbalance as the newly sainted had.
I certainly have nothing against this woman becoming a saint, but has anyone else thought that it is really strange the ONLY the Catholics have saints?
That one rises to the position of sainthood is a false teaching from Roman Catholicism. Those who receive Christ and remain in him immediately become saints. There are no works or periods of time before one becomes a saint. The man who was crucified on the cross next to Jesus who couldn't even come down to be baptized, but said, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom" became a saint right where he hung and that because of his faith. Roman Catholocism is deceiving many people, claiming that she is the church of Christ, but she is a counterfeit and is hiding right out in plain sight.
In Voodoo, there is a similar concept called "Orishas". Other religions have ascended masters. The Roman Catholic Church has never had one single original idea. Their "saint" concept is no exception.
@mathuin: You don't know about the Orthodox Christians?
This is the same church that gave Natives in Latin America twenty four hours to convert, or die.
Jeebus, she doesn't even look Native American. Doesn't the "Church" realize that self-punishment is a symptom of mental illness & not something to be admired?
Congratulations to Ketari and to the RCC for recognizing her. The disrespect on this thread is disgusting but typical of the left wing crowd who turn their jealousy into hateful words. Perfect display of low intellect here.
On the contrary, those who know the true word of God, know that works of penance or anything else does not elevate a person into sainhood nor does it save anyone. It is by faith and faith alone that one becomes a saint. If you people studied the word of God you would know this. Jesus is the One who shed his blood and took upon him God's wrath that we deserve. Giving our bodies pain does not elevate us sainthood, for we are worthy of pain, but Jesus took it for us. The person who attempts to bring pain to his or her own body is not having faith in Christ's sacrifice, but in his own works to earn salvation. Becoming a saint is by faith alone and can't earned by doing penance.
Why not Make Chief Jeronimo and many other Native American be recognized as saints instead! they and many other Native American Indians, who have fought and still fight for the self preservation of the Native American ways; should in my opinion and those who have common sense be recognized as saints. If I were a Native American or any other native people around the world for that matter; this kind of recognition would be taken as an insult!!!
LeeEli! As a Lakota that was raised in Christianity by a white protestant family, born from a Lakota mother(catholic) and a Lakota father...I speak for myself alone. I am amused by this "sainthood" of one of our indigenous woman, not at the healing of this boy, but at all this religious talk people banter back and forth about, and the "sainthood". I wonder if any of our ancestors would like being a "saint". I, myself wouldn't care for the title, just a human being. Insulted?? No. not by the church, I don't believe in any of the european faiths. They belong to people who have undesirable...ways. What I am pissed about is the lack of knowledge that all people have shown, about us "Native Americans". Yes a lot of our people follow catholic views, christianity and such but that comes from years of it forced upon us with dire consequences if we didn't. History books written about us come from their own view and interpretation because we are savages that need saved. We were free until less 1890 when they put my people on the rez. My great grandfather died protecting our leader from these people. I see no difference in the way we were treated and the way people treat each other today, all in the name of their faith. This disgusts me. What insults me are the words used in newspaper articles. "trading the totem for a crucifix?!" and seeing this nun wearing such a disgusting mockery of what is sacred to us and has to be earned. Keep your religions and beliefs and show me your humanity in showing respect to each other. Show me that you care about more than your materialism! Show me, not with words but action! We know all to well how much the wasicu's words mean nothing. Before discussing about my people and thinking you honor us by what you do, ask us. It's so simple and yet everybody gets life all twisted. I don't need a religion to know how to act, it was born into me from my ancestors and from theirs. I understand what you said and I thank you, the rest of it is for others who may read my words.
The funny thing is, God is the only one that can give anyone "sainthood". The vatacn is the most corrupt cult on earth today. I am speaking from experience...35 years of it! Christianity is something no one knows today. Hypocrits, just about all of them. To be a Christian is to act like one and who truly does that? There is one...eyes of blue (dead sea scrolls) and the world will soon know God's Wrath. What a messed up world we live in today but not for long.
The Good news! A soul is saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus only.
The free gift is not earned through brutal forms of religious idol behavior of mankind. The sadness of works, and deeds done in the name of the Roman Catholic doctrines of drudgery, and self abuse.
This story can't compel a lost soul to the truth, but it can draw religious birds of a feather to a false alter.
haha
The picture of the nun in the multi colored headdress is an insult to Natives, i'm sure she meant well but its a tacky prop
how do you creat a saint? wouldn't you become one automaticaly!
One becomes a saint by receiving Christ and remaining in him.
Saints... This isn't religion.
The Good News; The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ Jesus has paid the ransom due for sin.
The sadness of the account of another soul walking the path of brutal religious indoctrination has missed the mark and the high calling of grace through faith. Jesus was called of the Father to endure the pain of physical and the loneliness of separation from life. Isa 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Yeah, yeah, tell us about the good stuff, you know, the eternal bliss thing. How does it work, what exacty do you do? Do you just lay around in bliss, sort or like a constant orgasm? Do you have activities or choices? Just what is involved here?
Just an observation of facts . . the Catholic Church doesn't MAKE saints, it recognizes them and acknowledges them. There are many good, moral, ethical, believing folks walking around the world with no sainthood recognition, but who are truly saints. Show me an inherent belief system that doesn't have serious problems - including atheism, agnosticism, the various 'religions' etc. and I'll show you a head-in-the-sand approach to life. It's how the various huge problems are dealt with the should be considered important.
Isa 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Bottom Line from the Highest mountain, Calvary: But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Read all of Isa. 53 -- Isa. 58
Where's the Good News in this account of religious deception and sin's betrayal. The brutal way of RCC.
---------------------------------------------
Jesus promised an abundant life in spirit and truth: 2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Read John 3;3-8 Romans chapter 6 Hebrews chapter 4
Get free indeed - JCDIDIT4U -- Living Witness, the Word is Alive and Active.
Can someone please fix the typo- "barefoot in snow" not "barefoot in show."
Aw, isn't that sweet? And we all know how much care and concern the Roman Catholic Church has had for indigenous people here in the America's since, oh..... 1492.
In fact, most of those New World discoverers (with the help of the Church's representatives which they just happened to bring along with them) usually gave their new-found "friends" all through the America's a choice between gifts when they encountered each other: The Bible or the gallows.
My goodness, that was so thoughtful of those early discoverers to show God's love for all his children in such a meaningful way.
So here's to you Roman Catholic Church for being such a guiding light of moral standards and an inspirational compass to indigenous people in the New World for over five centuries!
You can't change history but you can rewrite it! That's what you are trying to do(The Bible or the Gallows) If you would do a little research on your own you would find out that is a lie. The only purpose of that statement is to make Christians look bad! It's time for you to grow up and live in reality. Atheists have killed far more people than Christians in the last 100 years.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to confuse you with the facts. Fortunately, you’re free to remain in your alternate universe for as long as you like. But if you’re interested, here’s some of what went down in the New World while you were away:
Following Columbus' discovery, Pope Alexander VI issued a May 4, 1493, papal bull granting official ownership of the New World to Ferdinand and Isabella. To these monarchs, the Pope declared:
"We of our own motion, and not at your solicitation, do give, concede, and assign for ever to you and your successors, all the islands, and main lands, discovered; and which may hereafter, be discovered, towards the west and south; whether they be situated towards India, or towards any other part whatsoever, and give you absolute power in them."
The Pope's declaration ultimately had dire consequences for native inhabitants of the Americas. Beginning in 1514 Spanish conquerors adopted "the Requirement," an ultimatum in which Indians were forced to accept "the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world" or face persecution. If Indians did not immediately comply, the Requirement warned them:
"We shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do all the harm and damage that we can."
Often the Requirement was read to Indians without translation, or in some cases even from ships before crew members landed to kill Indians and take slaves.
Well in case you where not aware the Catholics didn't come here until later, I don't consider Catholics, as Christians. The reason the Puritans came here was to escape the Catholics. I think history shows how well his Papal ownership went!
Check your history books. Puritans did not come here to escape catholic persecution.
Today, self infliction of such wounds would suggest mental illness, especially borderline personality disorder. Spontaneous remissions do occur, even in usually fatal illnesses/injuries, and a common thread is strong belief which seems to enable the immune system, but whatever the cause, there is nothing gained by stepping on functional belief systems. I hope many heal and fully recover no matter what they believe.
The Roman Catholic church is so lost. If they would just read their Bible they would know that to become a Saint all one needs to do is accept Jesus as your Savior.
We recognize canonized saints as holy people who devoted their lives and entire beings to God. They work for the conversion of many and acceptance of God and the Truth throughout the entire world. And believe me, that involves reading the Bible.
With one condition, they had to devote "their lives and entire beings to" a Christian God. Otherwise, they will be burning in hell.
My point is Paul in the new testament refers to any believer as a Saint, these Catholic saints are no holier than any other true believer. Put you faith in God and Christ, and the Holy Spirit, not Saints.
Someone somewhere,
If Roman Catholics were studying the word of God, they would not be worshiping Mary as Queen of heaven and the mother of God. They would not believe that the Lord comes down into the Eucharist so that they are eathing the literal flesh and blood of Christ. The would also believe that all grace flows through God and not Mary. They would also not refer to a mere man as Holy Father! What blasphemy! There is none righteous, no NOT ONE, for ALL have sinned. All fall short of the glory of God. They would also know that there is no Purgatory and that it is through faith in Jesus that a person is cleansed from all their sins. So, what book were you reading?
Considering the reputation of Catholicism among the Native Americans of the Southwest (particularly their treatment of children in boarding schools, clear up recent times); the near ruination of Native American values and culture; and now the Catholics have made a saint out of a Native American clearly out of her mind - I would be insulted if I were Native American.
Was this action taken by catholic church was to stop their guilt , when the Spanish came ,they could of done more to stop the massacre upon native people of the America's.
hey Pope, keep your b.s thoughts to yourself. Pope you are the root of all evil and b.s
why do we still have a pope for. let this man die and dont make anymore poops, im mean popes.
native indians plus the pope= confused
By the way is this the same lily from adam and eve
Septimus, you don't ha a pope because you are not a catholic believer
First of all Renegrade- Indians is an incorrect term and is seen by many Native Americans as dereogatory and insulting. Native Americans is the correct term used by those who want to respect those whose people saved Europeans from starvation and showed us how to live here. So get your facts straight.
So she just found boy that the good men of the church could enjoy.
Some of the people who commented here used their brains. I'm a Catholic and of German descent, so does that make me a Nazi? Most of the comments left here are disgusting and hold no water. I have seen for myself the healing that can be done when a person truly believes. I've only seen it happen in a sanctuary run by monks, but those people were truly healed. Miracles are real and they do happen. In this instance, a bone of the Saint was placed upon the boys body and he was healed. No one person alone prayed for him. I'm sure there were people of all faiths praying for him. So, no one can say a saint cured him, except through the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my opinion, miracles are rare but when they happen God has made the miracle happen to remind us He is the Healer, but the healing was done through the hands, etc., of a human being.
If you don't believe in God, that's your choice. But don't let your ignorance try to persuade believers that your way is the right way. I was very angry with God when he took my mother from this earth.. she was a woman I cherished with all my heart. But that's all he did.. he took her from this earth. When I've had problems I feel so empty all over, I feel the hand of God or my mom resting on my shoulder. I don't know whose hand it is, but I choose to believe God let's my mom intercede with me. She wasn't a perfect woman, but she always held her belief in God high above anything else, and she handed that belief down to us 3 children.
Just because something doesn't fit your thinking, don't call it Nazi, Islam, etc. You want to degrade someone, but the only person you are degrading is yourself with your ignorance. Just because the Pope is German does not make him a former Nazi, anymore than it does me. The Pope is simply someone God has put before us to lead us in our faith in God the Father. And, no.. Islam is not devouring the world. Here in America you are free to practice whatever religion you want.. other countries don't have that freedom.