Pope Benedict XVI officially announced February 18 that Kateri Tekakwitha will be declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in October. She is the first North American aboriginal to be named a saint. Known as “the Lily of the Mohawks,” she was born in 1656 in New York State. Persecuted for her Catholic faith, she moved to a Christian Mohawk village in what is now Kahnawake, in the current diocese of Saint-Jean Longueuil, Quebec, where she died at age 24. A statement issued by Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, “This will be a great day for Canadian Catholics and a deep honour for our country.”