Kateri Tekakwitha
Kateri Tekakwitha | |
|---|---|
Portrait of Catherine Tekawitha, c. 1690, by Father Chauchetière | |
| Virgin | |
| Born | 1656 Ossernenon, New Netherland (New York, United States) |
| Baptized | 18 April 1676 |
| Died | 17 April 1680 (aged 24) Kahnawake (near Montreal), Canada, New France |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 22 June 1980, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | 21 October 2012, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Feast | 17 April 14 July (United States) |
| Attributes | Lily; Turtle; Rosary |
| Patronage | environment; ecology; people in exile; Native Americans; orphans; people ridiculed for their piety |
| Controversy | Pressure to marry against will, shunned for her Catholic beliefs |
Kateri Tekakwitha (pronounced [ˈɡaderi deɡaˈɡwita] in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha (Tekaouïta, baptized as Catherine ("Kateri" in Mohawk), known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680) and Protectress of Canada, also as Geneviève of New France/ Geneviève of Canada, was a Mohawk/Algonquin young woman when she converted to Catholicism. Committing to live as a virgin, she became known for her devotion to Jesus Christ, diligent work ethic, and dedicated prayers for her fellow Native people. She was canonized in 2012, the first Native American saint.
Born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, in present-day New York, she and her family contracted smallpox in an epidemic; she was the only one of the family to survive, but had scarring on her face. She was influenced by French Jesuit missionaries and converted to Catholicism at age 19.
After taking a vow of perpetual virginity, she left her village, and moved to the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake, just south of Montreal. There she died five years later, respected for her piety and good works.
She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's Basilica on 21 October 2012, along with six others: Jacques Berthieu, Pedro Calungsod, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Maria of Mt Carmel Salles y Barangueras, Marianne of Molokaʻi, and Anna Schäffer.