Drexel was
beatified by
Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988, when her first miracle through prayer, healing the severe ear infection of teenage Robert Gutherman in 1974, was accepted. She was
canonized on October 1, 2000, when her 1994 miracle reversing congenital deafness in 2-year old Amy Wall was recognized. The
Vatican cites a fourfold legacy of Drexel: • A love of the
Eucharist and perspective on the unity of all peoples; • courage and initiative in addressing social inequality among minorities; • her efforts to achieve quality education for all; • and selfless service, including the donation of her inheritance, for the victims of injustice. She is known as the
patron saint of racial justice and of philanthropists.
Pope Leo XIV sees her as an example of those who, during their lives, "discovered that the poorest are not only objects of our compassion, but teachers of the Gospel. It is not a question of 'bringing' God to them, but of encountering [God] among them." Her
feast day is observed on March 3, the anniversary of her death. Drexel was originally buried in
Cornwells Heights,
Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania and the Saint Katharine Drexel Mission Center and National Shrine was formerly located at
St. Elizabeth's Convent in
Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The Mission Center offered retreat programs, historic site tours, days of prayer, presentations about Saint Katharine Drexel, as well as lectures and seminars related to her legacy. The convent was subsequently sold and in August 2018, Drexel's remains were transferred to a new shrine at the
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. A second-class relic of Drexel can be found inside the altar of the
Mary chapel at
St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in
Raleigh, North Carolina, and in the Day Chapel of Saint Katharine Drexel Parish in
Sugar Grove, Illinois. Numerous Catholic parishes, schools, and churches are dedicated to St. Katharine Drexel:
Parishes • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Maple, North Carolina • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Ione, California • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Martell, California • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Cape Coral, Florida • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Venice, Florida • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Weston, Florida • St. Katharine Drexel Mission of
Trenton, Georgia • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Cascade, Idaho • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Springfield, Illinois • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Sugar Grove, Illinois • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Frederick, Maryland • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Roxbury, Massachusetts • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Ramsey, Minnesota • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Alton, New Hampshire • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Burlington, New Jersey • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Buffalo, New York • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Bentleyville, Pennsylvania • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Chester, Pennsylvania • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Lansford, Pennsylvania • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Pleasant Mount, Pennsylvania • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Sioux Falls, South Dakota • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Hempstead, Texas • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Beaver Dam, Wisconsin • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
Kaukauna, Wisconsin • St. Katharine Drexel Parish of
New Orleans, f/k/a Holy Ghost Parish • St. Joseph's Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel,
Columbia, Virginia • St. Katharine Drexel Mission of
Haymarket, Virginia • Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church's shrine of St. Katharine Drexel,
Carencro, Louisiana Schools Schools St. Katharine Drexel founded or funded include (but are not limited to): •
Xavier University of Louisiana •
St. Benedict the Moor School • Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, Beaumont, Texas • Sacred Heart Catholic School, Port Arthur, Texas. •
St. Joseph Indian Normal School, now called Drexel Hall, on the campus of St. Joseph's College, Rensselaer, Indiana. The Indian Normal School operated from 1888 to 1896. A school for boys, the
Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative indicates children were "taken" from reservations in order to matriculate here. See page 350 of cited source. •
St. Michael Indian School, serving grades K–12 in
St. Michaels, Arizona • St. Mark School, the first in New York City for African-American Catholic children • Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and School, Founded 1912, Atlanta, Georgia • St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church and School, Founded 1932, Nashville, Tennessee • St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish was founded in 1893. St. Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament opened St. Ignatius of Loyola School in 1926. The school moved to its current facility in 1967 in Philadelphia. •
St. Emma Industrial and Agricultural Institute (later St. Emma Military Academy), founded on the
Belmead Plantation near
Powhatan, Virginia in 1895 •
St. Francis de Sales School founded on the
Belmead Plantation near
Powhatan, Virginia in 1899 •
St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Macon, Georgia, in 1913 with the help of Bishop Benjamin Kiely and Father Ignatius Lissner. • Kate Drexel Industrial Boarding School, on the
Umatilla Reservation in Pendleton, Oregon. Operated from 1847 to at least as late as 1929. See page 185 of cited source. The choir loft window in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Sioux, Saint Joseph's Indian School, Chamberlain, South Dakota, was donated by the Drexel Family.
Streets • Drexel Road,
Tucson, Arizona • Drexel Drive,
New Orleans, LA • Drexel Street, Nashville, TN • Drexel Avenue, Oak Creek, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. (Drexel Towne Centre, Oak Creek, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.)
Other • The St. Katharine Drexel Region of the
Secular Franciscan Order • Katharine Drexel library located on Knights Road in Philadelphia, PA. == See also ==