VATICAN CITY, Rome, Italy - Pope Benedict created seven new saints on Sunday including the first Native American to be canonised, as the Roman Catholic Church reaches out to its global flock to rebuff encroaching secularism.
The celebration of figures who had suffered to promote the faith comes
as the Church begins a drive to reclaim flagging congregations in former
strongholds in the face of sex abuse scandals and dissent against
Church teachings.
Thousands of pilgrims from around the world converged on St. Peter’s Square to witness the ceremony recognising the saints, who included Kateri Tekakwitha, a sixteenth-century convert known as “Lily of the Mohawks”.
The crowd included hundreds of pilgrims from the United States’ 2.5
million-strong Native American population, of whom 680,000 are estimated
to be Catholic, a legacy of the success of early missionaries in
converting indigenous people in America.
Source: Reuters...More...
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