Our Lady of Martyrs in New York officially declared a national shrine

The coliseum style church at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs. / Credit: Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 4, 2025 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has confirmed that the Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine, which encompasses the village where Sts. Isaac Jogues, René Goupil, and Jean de Lalande were martyred and where St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born, has officially been named a national shrine.

On Jan. 27 the USCCB informed Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, the nonprofit corporation that owns the shrine, that it could carry the “national” designation after requesting the title in August 2024. 

The shrine’s chairman, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany, said in a statement: “We are delighted that the bishops have confirmed what the faithful have long instinctually known: The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs is our home for the cultivation of holiness here in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.”

The shrine received its national title after bishops approved that it aligns with the USCCB’s standards, “Norms for the Designation of National Shrines,” including being “dedicated to promoting the faith of the pilgrims by centering on a mystery of the Catholic faith, a devotion based on authentic Church tradition, revelations recognized by the Church, or the lives of those in the Church’s calendar of saints.”

Monsignor Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and a board member of Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, said the shrine is a place where all Catholics are confirmed in the missionary dimension of the Christian life. 

“As Pope Francis repeatedly teaches us, we Catholics do not just have a mission but are a mission. We have been entrusted by Jesus Christ with the completion of his saving mission on earth,” Landry said in a statement. 

Because of its association with four great saints and heroes of the faith, Landry said the shrine “probably is, after the tabernacles that adorn our churches and the souls of newly baptized babies, the holiest place for Catholics in the country.”

For her part, Julie Baaki, executive director of the shrine, commented that “our national shrine is a haven where pilgrims come to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world as well as for growth in courage for any trials we face as we try to live lives of virtue, grow in faith, and try to pass it along.”  

The church on the grounds of the shrine was built in 1930 and can seat over 8,000 people, the largest capacity of any church building in the Western Hemisphere. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs will begin its 2025 season on May 3 and will remain open through the feast day of the North American martyrs on Oct. 19.