Friday, January 4, 2019

American saints -- and migration


Today is the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. She’s among the small handful of men and women who have been canonized by the Catholic Church who are known for their work in what is now the United States. I think it’s worthwhile looking at the list of American saint, with an eye on issues of migration.

First, the whole list: there are 11 canonized saints known for their work in the United States.

1.       St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. From Italy, worked with Italians immigrants
2.       St. Junipero Serra, from Catalonia (Spain), came north from Mexico and worked with native Americans
3.       St. Marianne Cope, immigrant from Germany, worked with leprosy patients in Hawaii
4.       St. Damien de Veuster, “Damien the Leper,” from Belgium, worked with leprosy patients in Hawaii
5.       St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, from France, worked with pioneers west of Mississippi and with Native Americans
6.       St. Mother Theodore Guerin, from France, worked with American pioneers in Indiana
7.       St. Isaac Jogues, from France, worked with Native Americans in New York
8.       St. John Neumann, from Bohemia (Czech Republic), worked with German immigrants
9.       St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, from New York, worked with the people of Maryland
10.   St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk from New York, life of prayer in Montreal
11.   St. Katherine Drexel, from Philadelphia, worked with African Americans and Native Americans

Of those eleven, eight were immigrants themselves:
1.       St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, from Italy
2.       St. Junipero Serra, from Catalonia (Spain)
3.       St. Marianne Cope, from Germany
4.       St. Damien de Veuster, “Damien the Leper,” from Belgium
5.       St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, from France
6.       St. Mother Theodore Guerin, from France
7.       St. Isaac Jogues, from France
8.       St. John Neumann, from Bohemia (Czech Republic)

Of the eleven, seven worked with Native Americans. Obviously, Native Americans are not immigrants, unless their ancestors strayed south of the Rio Grande for too long. But from the perspective of Native Americans, settlers of European descent are immigrants. There are host/guest issues here. Anyway, the seven:
1.       St. Junipero Serra, worked with Native Americans in Mexico and California
2.       St. Marianne Cope, worked with leprosy patients in Hawaii
3.       St. Damien de Veuster, worked with leprosy patients in Hawaii
4.       St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, worked with pioneers west of Mississippi and with Native Americans
5.       St. Isaac Jogues, from France, worked with Native Americans in New York
6.       St. Kateri Tekakwitha was herself Mohawk from New York
7.       St. Katherine Drexel, worked with African Americans and Native Americans

Six of the eleven worked with immigrants or internal migrants – that is, pioneers:

1.       St. Frances Xavier Cabrini worked with Italians immigrants
2.       St. Rose Philippine Duchesne worked with pioneers (migrants) west of Mississippi
3.       St. Mother Theodore Guerin with American pioneers (migrants) in Indiana
4.       St. John Neumann worked with German immigrants
5.       St. Elizabeth Ann Seton ran schools – AND worked with orphans from immigrant families
6.       St. Kateri Tekakwitha lived among Europeans, all immigrants from her perspective
7.       St. Katherine Drexel worked with involuntary immigrants – that is, slaves and their descendants

To me it seems bizarre beyond belief that an American Catholic could be persuaded to adopt an unwelcoming stance – or even hostility – toward immigrants.