Shrine Rejects Tourism Grant Over Secularism Requirement

The Gloversville (NY) Leader-Herald reported Sunday that the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs has turned down a tourism grant from Montgomery County (NY) after the county's Economic Development and Planning Committee voted to add a requirement that all tourism grant funds be used only for secular purposes.The grant was intended to subsidize the planned Oct. 21 ceremony conferring sainthood on Kateri, a member of the Mohawk tribe who was born in 1656 near present-day Auriesville (NY). A spokesman for the shrine said: "We can't sign anything with those conditions. We're not a secular organization. We are who we are, and we're not going to compromise, dilute or disintegrate that." It is expected that some 5,000 people will travel to Auriesville for the canonization ceremony