On Monday, the Vatican announced that Kateri Tekakwitha will be proclaimed a Catholic saint — the first Native American from North America to be canonized. Tekakwitha died in 1680, at the age of 24. (Bonus: So what took so long? The Vatican needs proof of two miracles to certify that a Catholic is interceding on someone’s behalf in heaven, and only in 2006, finally, did the second miracle come about, when 5-year old-Jake didn’t die from a nasty strep infection after his parents prayed to Kateri.)
