Kateri Tekakwitha Center
The Center is currently not staffed.
The Kateri Tekakwitha Center, located in Galena, Alaska on the Yukon River, serves eight Athabascan Indian villages in the interior. Through educational means the Catholics in the villages of Galena, Huslia, Kaltag, Koyukuk, McGrath, Nulato, Ruby and Tanana will continue to become more proficient in administering their local parishes in the absence of priests, brothers and sisters. The Center strives to enable and empower people to enhance classroom/conference learning with opportunities for practical ministry in their home parishes. We believe that this process is and will continue to revitalize these parishes. This educational structure must work within the current realities in the parishes.Adult Catholics are and will continue to be trained and empowered for lay ministry as Prayer Leaders, Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Sacristans and Parish Administrators in these eight villages. Our goal is that the lay people will continue, through educational means, to become the leaders who are taking responsibility for their local parishes. This goal is being accomplished by workshops and retreats given at the Center and by visiting and supporting the local parishes.
The Center opened in October of 2002, and was originally staffed by Sr. Marilyn Marx, SNJM and Sr. Marita Soucy, CSJ.