Drexel, Saint Katharine

Drexel, Saint Katharine

(born Nov. 26, 1858, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died March 3, 1955, Cornwells Heights, Pa.; canonized Oct. 1, 2000; feast day March 3) U.S. missionary. The niece of banker and philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel, she inherited a vast fortune, which she used to fund her charitable enterprises, including mission schools in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and New Mexico. In 1887 Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903) asked her to become a missionary. In 1891 she founded the Blessed Sacrament Sisters for Indians and Colored People (now Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament), a congregation of missionary nuns dedicated to the welfare of Native Americans and African Americans. She also founded several schools for minority students as well as Xavier University in New Orleans (1915). She was the second U.S.-born saint; the first was Elizabeth Ann Seton, canonized in 1975.