St. Kateri sculpture bridges divide

A unique, gifted sculpture of St. Kateri Tekakwitha by artist Timothy Schmalz was officially unveiled and blessed Sept. 30 at Guelph's Holy Rosary Parish, an event timed to coincide with National Truth and Reconciliation Day and rooted in the parish’s ongoing efforts to build bridges with Indigenous communities.

Rosella Kinoshemeg and fellow elder representatives from Manitoulin Island led a purification ritual, joined by Hamilton Bishop Joseph Dabrowski, who blessed the site. Local students were also present, many bringing twigs as a recollection of the saints' practice of placing twig crosses in the forest. 

The sculpture honours the first Native American saint, chosen for her role as a bridge between European and Indigenous worlds. Catholicism's patron saint of Indigenous peoples, Native Americans, ecology and the environment, St. Kateri Tekakwitha is perhaps best known for her devotion to the teachings of Jesuit missionaries; she converted to Catholicism as a young adult, leading to a vow of perpetual chastity and the subsequent dedication of her life completely to Jesus Christ.

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Fr. Vernon Boyd, pastor of Holy Rosary Parish, said the importance of the unveiling is less about the sculpture itself, but more significant as the next step in fostering friendship, restoring relationships and advancing truth and reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous communities.

And while those present are likely to be visually captivated by the brilliance of Schmalz’s composition, what cannot be seen is the years of genuine backing for a piece such as this to exist, led wholeheartedly by Boyd. 

“When the Kamloops Residential School report came out, regardless of how people perceived it, you could see the wound and hurt in so many people. That called me to see if we can try to build a bridge, a friendship,” he said, 

Calling a few parishioners together, the pastor formed a group known as Manitou Circle. Together, the ministry studied, analyzed, read, shared and prayed for Indigenous voices. While the council continues today, he remembers a shift where it became obvious more needed to be done. 

“We ended up visiting Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, where we had gone up and grown this friendship. At that point, that’s all it was about — becoming friends and listening. We developed quite a positive relationship. They visited us at Holy Rosary, and we’d visit them. It was almost like two worlds apart. Wouldn't it be nice if we had something in the church to help bridge that?” Boyd wondered. 

The renowned Catholic artist and sculptor Schmalz designed the work after a visit with Boyd. Schmalz spoke to how the sculpture solves the artistic challenge of representing St. Kateri Tekakwitha, with one side showing her in the material world surrounded by trees and longhouses, face still marked by smallpox scars, and the other side of her in Heaven surrounded by clouds and angels, face smooth and perfected after a reported miracle at her death.

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The piece is a smaller version of a larger sculpture the artist had created in the past, this one taking around seven months to complete.

Boyd shared his love for how the two sides represent the “disfigured” and the “transfigured” of the Mohawk saint. 

Everything about the sculpture is deliberate, including where it now stands. It rests in a forested area on the parish property, along a path many students use to cross between the rectory and the neighbouring Holy Rosary Catholic School.

“ This was her cathedral,” Boyd said of the forest. “The students cannot help but notice her now, and if something moves them in their heart to ask the most basic of questions, ‘Who is she?’ then this has worked. It can move them to learn about her life.” 

An emotional Boyd laid out what the saint continues to symbolize on a day of reconciliation above all else. 

“She is a bridge that brings us to a place where we can all meet, at a place where we encounter truth and reconciliation — that place is the Cross,” he said. 

“It is there where we see love, where we see real reconciliation, where we see real truth. She was able to bridge the old and new world, the European and Indigenous culture, in her time.” 

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Even when it seems that  we are still worlds apart in some ways, Boyd invites the faithful to look to that bridge again.  

“We can call upon her to ask for help in finding that meeting place, to build those bridges with each other once again,” he said. 

A version of this article appeared in the October 04, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "St. Kateri sculpture bridges divide".