Bensalem, USA - The Shrine of St. Katharine Drexel in Bucks County has been designated a national shrine by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Bensalem shrine where St. Katharine is entombed receives about 20,000 visitors annually.
St. Katharine built the shrine in 1893 after founding the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to serve poor and socially oppressed members of the black and American Indian communities.
Mother Drexel, as she was known, was born into a wealthy Philadelphia family in 1858. She was canonized in 2000, 45 years after her death.
Kevin Mulligan, a spokesman for the Philadelphia archdiocese, says the shrine derives no financial gain from its elevated status other than an expected increase in visitors.
There are now seven national shrines in Pennsylvania and 27 in the country.