Also Known as: Catherine Tekakwitha;
Lily of the Mohawks; Tegakouita; Tegakwitha
Memorial: 14 July
Profile Daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. Orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. Converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary. Shunned and abused by relatives for her faith. Escaped through 200 miles of wilderness to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie. Took a vow of chastity in 1679. Known for spirituality and austere lifestyle. Miracle worker. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. First Native American proposed for canonization, her cause was started in 1884 under Pope Leo XIII. The Tekakwitha Conference, an international association of Native American Catholics and those in ministry with them, was named for her.
Born: 1656 at Osserneon (Auriesville), modern New York, USA
Died : 17 April 1680 at Caughnawaga, Canada
Venerated: 1943
Beatified: 22 June 1980 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: 21 October 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
Postulator, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha League, Auriesville, NY 12016, thepeople working for the canonization of Saint Kateri
Patronage ecologists, ecology, environment, environmentalism, environmentalists, exiles, loss of parents, people in exile, people ridiculed for their piety, World Youth Day