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Ten American Saints For The Year Of Faith

To honor the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI has announced a Year of Faith, starting October 11 and ending November 24, 2013, meant to strengthen the faith of Catholics and draw the world to faith by their example. Pope Benedict has encouraged Catholics to study the lives of the saints as part of the Year of Faith in order to follow their example.

Jeannine Marino, program specialist for the Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offers "10 American Saints for the Year of Faith" to help Catholics learn about the lives of the saints and to appreciate the history of the Catholic faith in America. Marino is a canon lawyer who has served as a postulator and advisor to several canonization causes. A postulator conducts research into the life of a proposed saint.Two saints from the list, Marianne Cope, OSF and Kateri Tekakwitha, were canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21.

Here is the full list: St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, MSC; St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, MSC; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, SC; St. John Neumann, CSsR; St. Katharine Drexel, SBS; St. Mother Théodore Guérin, SP; St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, RSCJ; St. Damien de Veuster of Molokai, SSCC; St. Marianne Cope, OSF and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

More information on American saints and holy men and women for the Year of Faith is available online: www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/saints-for-the-year-of-faith.cfm