Pope Benedict Praises Two New Saints From New York State
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After years of prayers and petitions, two women from New York State become Roman Catholic saints on Sunday.
One of the nun is a 19th-century Syracuse nun, Mother Marianne Cope, who moved to Hawaii to spend three decades of her life caring for leprosy patients.
Religious pilgrims from upstate traveled to the Vatican to see Pope Benedict XVI canonize Cope.
"She's a shining and energetic example of the best of the tradition of Catholic nursing Sisters and of the spirit of her beloved St. Francis," the pope said.
The other canonized New Yorker was Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-century Native American known as the "Lily of the Mohawks."
The Catholic Church says she performed a miracle, by healing a boy who had been suffering from a flesh-eating disease.
Upstate worshippers are celebrating in the towns where she grew up.
"Leading a simple life, Kateri remained faithful to her love for Jesus, to prayer, and to daily Mass. Her greatest wish was to know and to do what pleased God," the pope said.
The women were among seven new saints canonized by the pope on Sunday.