Jake, now 12, and his mother were invited to travel to Italy with a group for the canonization ceremony in Vatican City.

CNN: Pope names first Native American saint

His tireless campaign for the canonization of Edward the Confessor finally succeeded.

BBC: The hidden history of Westminster

But within a few years of Boniface's death in 1303, Pope Clement V, his successor, moved the papacy to Avignon, France, repudiated Boniface and quickly began canonization proceedings for the soon-to-be St.

CNN: Echoes of past in pope's resignation

The new saints were all approved for canonization in a decree read by Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 11 during the same ceremony in which he announced he was resigning as pontiff.

NPR: Pope Francis Gives Church Hundreds Of New Saints

But the Native American campaign to stop Serra's canonization never gained an audience in Rome, Miranda said.

CNN: Pope Francis canonizes controversial saint Serra

Tekakwitha's canonization follows what has been judged a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church in the 2006 case of an American boy with a flesh-eating bug.

CNN: Pope names first Native American saint