St. Isaac Jogues is one of the best known American saints, but did you know that he lived and died near Albany, New York? That’s just one of many fascinating facts in New York’s Catholic history. A few decades later, the same site was the birthplace of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Despite New York’s early encounter with the faith, a rough road lay ahead during the colonial era. At one point, it was a capital offense for Catholic priests to even enter the state of New York!
Thankfully the tides turned and waves of Catholic immigrants—Italian, Polish, Irish, and later Hispanic—made New York the strongly Catholic state it is today. In New York City alone, some 36 percent of the population is Catholic, making it much more Catholic than the rest of the country (which is 22 percent Catholic).
