Two Americans to be canonized on October 21, 2012

Blessed Marianne Cope and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha are two of seven to be declared saints this fall:

The list of the seven people who will be declared saints ranges from a Filipino layman to European founders of religious orders to the first Native American.

Two of the seven holy men and women are associated with the U.S.

Blessed Marianne Cope, was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, N.Y., and spent many years caring for the lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, while Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, was a 17th-century Mohawk girl who converted to Catholicism and died at the age of 24.

Their canonization ceremony will take place on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.

Cardinal Edward Egan, the Emeritus Archbishop of New York, could not keep a smile off his face as he stood in the sun outside of St. Peter's after the consistory. He eagerly pointed out that "out of the seven saints, two are New Yorkers."

For more about both women, see this recent Catholic World Report piece: