Holy, Independent: Meet 12 of the Many Americans on the Path to Sainthood
- National Catholic Register
- Jul 19
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 22
A look at some of the many American men and women poised for sainthood.
By Jonah McKeown/National Catholic Register
Nearly 100 American men and women from the United States are currently being considered for sainthood. And many Catholics hope that Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, will soon beatify or canonize some new American saints — perhaps even the first African American saint.
Here’s a look at some of these holy American men and women and the status of their sainthood causes.
Venerable Father Augustus Tolton
Born into slavery in 1854 in rural Missouri, Tolton’s family managed to escape to Illinois, a free state. The family suffered prejudice at the hands of their neighbors and fellow Catholics, and no American seminary would accept Tolton because of his race, so Augustus studied for the priesthood in Rome and was ordained in 1886. He served at various parishes in Illinois until his unexpected death at age 43.
The sainthood cause of Father Tolton, the first African American to be ordained a priest, was opened by the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2011. In 2019, Pope Francis issued a declaration that Father Tolton lived a life of heroic virtue, bestowing on him the title of “Venerable.”
Servant of God Dorothy Day
Day (1897-1980) was an advocate for the poor and the founder of the Catholic Worker movement.
After a tumultuous youth that included a common-law marriage, involvement in socialist and bohemian circles, and even an abortion, Day began a search for meaning that led to her reception into the Catholic Church in 1927. She spent the next five decades of her life tirelessly serving and advocating for the poor. Some 185 Catholic Worker communities continue to exist today in the U.S. and around the globe.
The Archdiocese of New York opened Day’s sainthood cause in 2000 and sent evidence of her holy life to the Vatican in 2021.
Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman
Bowman (1937-1990) was a teacher, public speaker, musician and religious sister who helped to establish the National Black Sisters’ Conference. Though raised Protestant, she chose to become Catholic at age nine and was moved by the kindness and generosity of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. She later attended a school run by that order and entered their novitiate.
Bowman became a noted public speaker and traveled around the country, talking about race and the Catholic faith, even after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984. She famously gave a speech before the U.S. bishops in 1989 and spoke about her identity as an African American Catholic as a “gift to the Church."
The Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, opened the cause for her canonization in 2018.
Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, at the age of 24, Archbishop Sheen was appointed auxiliary bishop of New York in 1951, where he remained until his appointment as bishop of Rochester, New York, in 1966. He received a titular appointment three years later, making him an archbishop. He moved back to New York City until his death in 1979.
During his lifetime, Archbishop Sheen published dozens of books and hosted popular radio and television shows, even winning an Emmy for “Most Outstanding Television Personality.”
In 2019, Sheen's remains were transferred from the Archdiocese of New York to Peoria, following a long legal battle over his burial place.
The Diocese of Peoria opened Archbishop Sheen’s cause for sainthood in 2002, and in 2012, Benedict XVI recognized his life of heroic virtue, landing Archbishop Sheen the title of “Venerable.” Sheen was originally scheduled to be beatified in 2019, but a number of unexpected factors have led to his sainthood cause being suspended since then, though interest by the faithful continues.
Servant of God Rhoda Wise
Rhoda Wise (1888-1948) was a Canton, Ohio, woman who converted to Catholicism after being introduced to the Rosary.
She suffered greatly for years under serious medical problems, including a permanently injured foot and a 39-pound ovarian cyst that was surgically removed in 1932. Wise claimed she was completely healed of her ailments after receiving a visit from Jesus in her home.
During Wise’s life, some 300 to 500 people a week came to her home seeking help, and many additional healings were reported. One of those healings was of a skeptical Rita Rizzo — the future Mother Mary Angelica, the foundress of EWTN — who at the time was suffering from severe stomach problems and “so engrossed in survival that religion did not affect me,” she later admitted.
Wise advised praying a novena to St. Thérèse, which Rita did. After doing so, she says her stomach ailment, which had caused her suffering for years, was healed overnight. She spent a lot of time over the next few years volunteering at the house and learning from Rhoda.
The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, opened Wise’s cause for canonization in 2016, granting her the title “Servant of God.”
Blessed Stanley Rother
Born a simple Oklahoma farm boy, Stanley Rother became a priest and volunteered to serve the poor as a missionary in Guatemala in 1968. Thirteen years later, in 1981, a group of armed men shot him to death in his rectory. He became the first person born in the United States to be officially declared a martyr by the Catholic Church and the first priest born in the United States to be beatified.
A famous quote is attributed to him: “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.”
The Oklahoma City Archdiocese opened Rother's cause for canonization in 2007, and nine years later, Pope Francis recognized Rother as a martyr. More than 20,000 people attended Rother’s beatification Mass in Oklahoma City on Sept. 23, 2017. A shrine to Blessed Rother in Oklahoma City was dedicated in 2023.
Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk
Black Elk, a member of the Lakota Native American tribe, was born sometime between 1858 and 1866 and was a cousin to the famous Lakota warrior Crazy Horse. After surviving the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee and adventuring throughout Europe while touring with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show, Black Elk converted to Catholicism in 1904 after marrying a Catholic woman. He took the name Nicholas upon his baptism.
Like many of his ancestors, Nicholas Black Elk had previously been a medicine man, which combined the roles of medical doctor, spiritual adviser and counselor. Due to his enthusiasm and his excellent memory for learning Scripture and Church teaching, Jesuit missionaries in South Dakota chose Nicholas Black Elk as a catechist in 1907, a role he served in faithfully for 50 years. He traveled around on horseback teaching the Catholic faith, and his efforts brought more than 400 people into the Church.
Nicholas Black Elk died in 1950. The Diocese of Rapid City opened his sainthood cause in 2016, and in 2019 all collected research materials were sent to the Vatican.
Venerable Henriette DeLille
Born in 1812 to a wealthy French father and a free Creole woman of Spanish, French and African descent, Henriette DeLille was groomed throughout her childhood to become a part of the plaçage system, whereby free women of color entered into common-law marriages with wealthy white plantation owners. But Henriette declared that her religious convictions could not be reconciled with the plaçage lifestyle for which she was being prepared. Raised Catholic, she believed that the plaçage system violated Church teaching on the sanctity of marriage.
In 1836, wanting to dedicate her life to God, Henriette used the proceeds of an inheritance to found a small, initially unrecognized order of nuns, the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her group would eventually become the Sisters of the Holy Family, officially founded at St. Augustine's Church in 1842. The sisters taught religion and other subjects to slaves, even though it was illegal to do so at the time, punishable by death or life imprisonment.
DeLille died in 1862 at age 50. The Sisters of the Holy Family — which received papal recognition in 1949 — remains an active order in Louisiana today, with its sisters working in nursing homes and as teachers, administrators and in other pastoral positions.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans opened DeLille’s cause in 1988, and Pope Benedict XVI declared her “Venerable” in 2010.
Servant of God Julia Greeley
Born a slave in Hannibal, Missouri, sometime between 1833 and 1848 — her exact age is not known — Julia Greeley was known for her remarkable charitable efforts in Denver, which she accomplished despite massive personal hardships and health issues.
Greeley converted to Catholicism in 1880 at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver, where she was an enthusiastic parishioner, a daily communicant, a fervent promoter of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and an active member of the Secular Franciscan Order starting in 1901.
Despite her own poverty, Greeley spent much of her time collecting food, clothing and other goods for the poor. She would often do her work at night, so as to avoid embarrassing the people she was assisting. She died on June 7, 1918 — the feast of the Sacred Heart.
Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver opened Greeley’s sainthood cause in 2016.
Blessed Father Michael McGivney
The son of Irish immigrants, Father McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882.
Initially, the organization was intended to assist widows and their families upon the deaths of their husbands. It has grown into a worldwide Catholic fraternal order, with more than 2 million members carrying out works of charity and evangelization across the globe. The Knights also offer life-insurance policies to their members.
Father McGivney was beatified in 2020. Both he and Pope Leo share a love of baseball.
Servant of God Joseph Verbis Lafleur
Remembered for his heroic service during World War II, Father Lafleur was born on Jan. 24, 1912, in Ville Platte, Louisiana. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lafayette on April 2, 1938, and became a military chaplain.
He was deployed to the Philippines and spent two and a half years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese. He ended up on a ship with other Japanese POWs that was torpedoed by an American submarine that did not realize the ship was carrying POWs.
Father Lafleur was last seen Sept. 7, 1944, helping men out of the hull of the sinking ship, for which he posthumously earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star and a second Distinguished Service Cross for his acts as a POW. His body was never found, but a shrine and monument exist at St. Landry Catholic Church, where he grew up. Each year Mass is celebrated in honor of his life around the date of his death.
Bishop Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette opened Father Lafleur’s cause for canonization in 2020.
Servant of God Michelle Duppong
Michelle Duppong was born in Colorado and grew up on her family farm in North Dakota. She served as a FOCUS missionary starting in 2006, before becoming the director of adult faith formation for the Diocese of Bismarck. She was known for her joyful promotion of the faith and care for others.
She was diagnosed with cancer in December 2014 and died on Christmas Day in 2015 at the age of 31, surrounded by family at her childhood home.
The Diocese of Bismarck opened her sainthood cause in 2022.
