Why aren't there more American Saints?

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AServantofGod

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I just got finished reading that there are only 6 Americans canonized by the Catholic Church. There were about as many Blesseds.

Why do you think there are so few American Saints? I’ve thought of the following: 1. Our country is still relatively young, 2. Our country’s lifestyle makes it difficult to pursue holiness although in the past that wasn’t necessarilly so, 3. The distance of America to the Vatican in the past made it difficult to make saintly people known.

What do you think?
 
Because America has only been around for 230 years and it is a primarily Protestant nation. Compare that with much older European nations made up of primarily Catholics. It just comes down to the size of the pool of potential saints. America has simply not had as many total Catholics in its history as other places. Hopefully we’ll catch up 😃 !
 
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Genesis315:
Because America has only been around for 230 years and it is a primarily Protestant nation. Compare that with much older European nations made up of primarily Catholics. It just comes down to the size of the pool of potential saints. America has simply not had as many total Catholics in its history as other places. Hopefully we’ll catch up 😃 !
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Good point! However, the south & southwest which was originally a part of Spain & then Mexico did & still does have a high Catholic population. I grew up in south Texas where 90% of the people ('60s & 70s) were Mexican American & of those 75% were Catholic.
 
Do martyrs count as saints? Because our society hasn’t really martyred anyone like other places have. That could be a reason too.
 
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Genesis315:
Do martyrs count as saints? Because our society hasn’t really martyred anyone like other places have. That could be a reason too.
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I hadn’t thought of that one. Maybe then it’s a good indicator of our strong Christian roots in this country that we haven’t had as many saints as other places. I do know that St. Isaac & his 2 companions were martyred and are known as the North American Martyrs. So that’s 1/2 of the 6 but that’s still very few.
 
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