Knights of Columbus joins Catholic Indian Mission to celebrate Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri Tekakwitha or Tekaouïta (baptised Catherine), known as the Lily of the Mohawks, first North American Aboriginal person elevated to sainthood (born in 1656 at Ossernenon in Iroquois country, now Auriesville, NY; died 17 April 1680 at the St. Francis Xavier Mission.

Published in Columbia Magazine, by the Knights of Columbus:

Celebrating Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the canonization of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks, on October 21, the Knights of Columbus and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions hosted a special Mass at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. Bishop Chad W. Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota, and chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Native American Affairs, was the principal celebrant, while Father Maurice Henry Sands, executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office, delivered the homily.

“I think it’s very appropriate that we are offering this special Mass to honor St. Kateri today, at this place, which is dedicated to St. John Paul II,” said Father Sands, a member of several Native American tribes and a longtime Knight of Columbus. “They both experienced a lot of suffering early in their lives and they both made decisions early in their lives to completely and fully and zealously give themselves to the Lord.”

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born around 1656, in a Mohawk village in present-day upstate New York. 

As a child, she survived a smallpox epidemic that killed both her parents and her brother. Resisting her relatives’ pressure to marry, Tekakwitha converted to Catholicism at 19, took the name Kateri and consecrated herself solely to Jesus. She died in 1680 in present-day Québec.

Known as the Lily of the Mohawks, St. Kateri was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 12, 2012. She is the first Native American woman of North America to be canonized by the Catholic Church.

“Her canonization … was the Church recognizing a young Indigenous woman that heroically lived her faith,” said Bishop Zielinski. “You start to see pockets of Native peoples throughout the whole world turning to her, because many of these Indigenous cultures have been sadly oppressed by governments. I think the recognition of her as a saint truly lifted them up and recognized them globally.”

Dancers and drummers from the Pueblo of Laguna, a tribe in west-central New Mexico, were present for the Mass, as well as several Native American families who attended her canonization a decade ago.

“This is a great privilege and tremendous joy to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of canonization,” said Sister Marie James Hunt, a Daughter of St. Paul and a member of the Penobscot Nation in Maine. “I was present at her canonization in Rome with Native Americans from all over the United States, and this is just making me feel that same joy that we all experienced. … When I’m among different Native American Catholics, my Catholicism is strengthened.”

Supreme Secretary Patrick Mason, a member of the Osage Nation, was also present, representing the Supreme Council.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha's Mandela geometric symbol.

“We have Lakota, Dakota, we have Navajo, Denae, Hopi, Laguna, Oglala, Ojibwe, Mohawk,” he said. “All these different peoples from all over the country have come together for this celebration, and it really is beautiful. It reminds us all of that common bond of unity that we share, not only in our heritage — but also in our faith — that brings us together as one people. And so to be here today, celebrating that faith and celebrating St. Kateri just has been incredible.”