From her childhood, Saint Katharine Drexel—the second American-born canonized saint—engaged in charitable and philanthropic works, but her path to canonized sainthood was facilitated by meeting a Pope.
Born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1858, young Catherine Mary Drexel was the second child of Francis Anthony Drexel, a wealthy banking executive, and his wife, Hannah Langstroth. Her mother died shortly following Catherine Mary’s birth, and her father remarried Emma Bouvier in 1860. In addition to fine education and ample travel opportunities, Catherine and her sister experienced a rich Catholic home environment, engaging in daily prayer. Catherine Mary’s stepmother opened their home to people in need, offering food, clothing and rent assistance.
When her stepmother developed cancer, watching her struggles made her more aware that personal wealth could not shield a person from pain or suffering, which deepened her passionate love for God and neighbor. When traveling with her family to Western states in 1884, Catherine Mary became aware of the plight of the indigenous American tribes as well as African Americans and resolved to do something on their behalf. After her father died, Catherine Mary and her sisters donated some of their inheritance to assist the St. Francis Mission of South Dakota’s Rosebud Reservation. Yet Catherine Mary began to see that more than money was necessary. When she and her sisters traveled to Europe in 1887, they had an audience with Pope Leo XIII. Catherine Mary recounted her encounters with the indigenous tribes, encouraging the Pope to send missionaries. Pope Leo XIII responded by suggesting that she personally become a missionary. After consulting with her spiritual director, Archbishop James O’Connor of Omaha, a former Philadelphia priest and family friend, she joined the Sisters of Mercy of Pittsburgh in 1889, taking the name of Sister Katharine Drexel.
With Archbishop O’Connor’s encouragement, in 1891 she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People—now known simply as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament—serving as their first superior general. Known as Mother Katharine, she would found numerous schools, such as St. Catherine’s Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and other schools for Native Americans west of the Mississippi, as well as institutions for African Americans. Working with the friars of St. John the Baptist Province of the Order of Friars Minor, Mother Katharine enlisted them to help staff a mission for the Navajos in Arizona and New Mexico, and her order helped finance their work with the Pueblo tribe. In 1910, Mother Katharine also financed the printing of 500 copies of a Navaho-English Catechism.
In 1915, Mother Katharine, at the urging of Archbishop James Blenk of New Orleans, came to his city to foster education for Black youth. Her efforts included establishment of Xavier High School—later known as Xavier Preparatory School. The purchase of the former Southern University property had to be done through an agent because of community and city opposition to such an institution. Seeing the need for Black teachers, Mother Katharine went about forming a university. In 1921, the State of Louisiana recognized Xavier University of New Orleans—the first and only historically Black and Catholic university in the U.S. In addition, she supported more than 60 missions and schools around the U.S.
Mother Katharine also supported Mother Loyola of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de’ Ricci, in caring for other orphaned and abandoned Afro-Cuban children in Havana, during and after the Spanish–American War.
Mother Katharine continued to lead her order until 1937, when she sustained a heart attack. Her later years were devoted to intense prayer and recording her prayers and aspirations. Mother Katharine died in 1955, at age 96. At that time, there were 500 Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament teaching in 63 schools throughout the country. She had established 50 missions for Native Americans in 16 states.
Widely acclaimed during her lifetime, Mother Katharine’s reputation for her faith and works endured—so much so that efforts were launched for her canonization. Pope John Paul II canonized her as Saint Katharine Drexel by 2000—with March 3, the anniversary of her death, as her feast day.
In addition, a number of schools and parishes around the country are named in her honor. Pope Leo XIV, who had studied at Villanova University in Philadelphia, in 2025 cited her as an example of someone who “discovered that the poorest are not only objects of our compassion, but teachers of the Gospel.”
