On the same day last month that Pope Benedict XVI canonized St.
Kateri Tekakwitha, Belleville Bishop Edward Braxton announced that a new
parish, to be named for the new saint, will be built in Gallatin
County. The new parish will stand on the same land, in Ridgway, Ill., where St. Joseph Catholic Church stood before it was leveled by a tornado earlier this year.
Braxton said the new parish’s borders would include the entire county, merging with Gallatin’s four parishes: St. Joseph in Equality; St. Patrick in Pond Settlemen; Immaculate Conception in Shawneetown; and St. Joseph in Ridgway. Three will be maintained as chapels.
The pastor in Gallatin County, the Rev. Steven Beatty, said the Catholics in Ridgway were “overjoyed that they’ll have a church back in their town,” though he said it would probably be 18 months to two years before St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks opens its doors.
Kateri, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior, was born in the 17th century in New York. She was baptized at age 20 and died four years later.
Braxton said in a statement that it was “fitting to recognize the Catholic faith of Native Americans in Southern Illinois, and particularly St. Kateri.”