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Kateri Tekakwitha was among the seven saints Pope Benedict XVI added to the roster of Catholic role models Oct. 21 as he tries to rekindle the faith in places where it’s lagging

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A view of St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, as Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a canonization ceremony, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. The pontiff canonized seven people: Kateri Tekakwitha, Maria del Carmen, Pedro Calungsod, Jacques Berthieu, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Mother Marianne Cope, and Anna Shaeffer.Alessandra Tarantino/The Associated Press

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Tapestries of new saints, from left: Kateri Tekakwitha, Maria del Carmen, Pedro Calungsod, Jacques Berthieu, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, Mother Marianne Cope, and Anna Shaeffer hang from St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican as Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a canonization ceremony, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

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Pope Benedict XVI blesses the altar during a special mass to canonize seven new saints, including Canada’s first native saint, at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City October 21, 2012.Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

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A Swiss guard stands in front of St. Peter's Basilica as Pope Benedict XVI conducts a special mass to canonize seven new saints, including Canada’s first aboriginal person to be declared a saint, at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City October 21, 2012.Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

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Top second from left, Jake Finkbonner, of Ferndale, Washington, poses with his father Donny, left, his mother Elsa, top row second from right, and his sisters Malia, bottom left, and Miranda, at the end of a canonization ceremony celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012. Jake was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria in 2006, when he was five years old, and his prognosis was so grave that his parents had last rites performed and were discussing donating his organs. The Vatican determined that Jake’s cure was a miracle due to the intercession of Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th century native woman who is among seven people who were declared saints during the ceremony.Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press

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Two nuns hold images of Kateri Tekakwitha, Canada’s first native person to achieve sainthood, as they wait for the start of a canonization ceremony celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press

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A faithful holds an image depicting Kateri Tekakwitha, Canada’s first aboriginal saint, before Pope Benedict XVI conducts a special mass at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City October 21, 2012.Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

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A faithful holds an image depicting Kateri Tekakwitha, Canada’s first native saint, before Pope Benedict XVI conducts a special mass to canonize seven new saints including Kateri at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City October 21, 2012.Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

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Harry Lafond (L) and Wilton Littelchild from Canada wait before Pope Benedict XVI conducts a special mass to canonize seven new saints, including Canada’s first aboriginal saint, at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City October 21, 2012.Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

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Members of the faithful attend a mass celebrating the life of Kateri Tekakwitha on the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal, Sunday, October 21, 2012, on the day she was made a saint by the Vatican.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

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