More than 700 Native Americans are in the Vatican this week to take part in the canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman who is the first Native American to be named a saint by the Catholic Church.

Tekakwitha lived in New York in the 1600s. She converted to Catholicism as a young woman and has been credited with several miracles, including the curing of Jake Finkbonner, a Lummi Nation boy who nearly died from a flesh-eating disease.

Finkbonner and his family will participate in Sunday's ceremony with the Pope Benedict XVI, The Winston-Salem Journal reported. A choir will sign an Indian hymn during mass, the paper said.

At another mass on Monday, there will be a smudging ceremony.

Get the Story:
Celebration begins for first Native American to be sainted (The Winston-Salem Journal 10/18)
New Native American saint Kateri Tekakwitha stirs mixed emotions (Religion News Service 10/17)

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