By Christopher White, National Correspondent, CRUX
Colorful wildflowers frame the peak of Byron Glacier near Girwood, Alaska, July 3, 2019. Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” was widely lauded for its scope on the moral and ethical response to protecting Earth’s environment for future generations. (Credit: CNS.)
NEW YORK – Ahead of October’s upcoming Rome summit on the Amazon region, one stateside organization is hoping the legacy of a lesser-known saint -Kateri Tekakwitha – may help Catholics in the United States realize the significance of indigenous people for the Church.
Bill Jacobs founded the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center in 2000 with a mission of inspiring Catholics to respond to today’s ecological challenges on a local level. Along with his program director Kathleen Hoenke, they’re trying to harness the momentum provided by Pope Francis’s 2015 groundbreaking encyclical on the environment to fuel their cause.
That letter – Laudato si’ – along with the Synod on the Amazon – now offer Jacobs and Hoenke the opportunity for a one-two punch: Elevating the plight of indigenous people and the need for environmental action among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
“It is important that the Church works with indigenous peoples and plays the right roles to address challenges that they may face,” said Hoenke, looking ahead to October.
“Indigenous peoples have a tremendous amount of traditional ecological knowledge, and opening a dialogue with them in order to recognize shared priorities and work together toward the common goal of caring for creation is imperative for the health of the environment and therefore the survival of the human family as a whole,” she told Crux.
For that reason, among others, Hoenke points to the life and legacy of Kateri, the first Native American to be made a saint, as one who can offer inspiration for the October Synod in Rome as well as for Catholics in their own communities.
Kateri, a Mohawk laywoman, was born in 1656 in upstate New York and became a Catholic after encountering Jesuit missionaries as a teenager. Despite her early death at age twenty-four, she’s remembered for her indefatigable efforts to assist local villagers in need and to build bridges between the natives and Europeans.
“Many non-indigenous Americans don’t know that approximately 20 percent of Native Americans are Catholic,” said Hoenke. “She also had a traditional knowledge of the land and relationship with nature that we should emulate. In a country where people are becoming increasingly disconnected from both each other, God, and the natural world, Kateri is a wonderful example of how to see God in nature and how we are all connected.”
Building on that legacy, Jacobs and Hoenke have started the Saint Kateri Habitat Program, a signature initiative of their Conservation Center, encouraging yards, gardens, schools, farms, parishes, parks, and religious communities to be transformed into a Kateri Habitat “in a way that praises God and fosters a greater connection between people and nature.”