11/2/15 St. Maria Goretti in Tyler by Andrew D. Brosig & Rolan Ranido
Read MoreBishop Joseph Strickland prays at the feet of the reliquary of Saint Maria Goretti, "The Little Saint of Great Mercy," on Monday in the sanctuary of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler. Saint Maria is the youngest canonized saint in the Catholic Church, being only 11 when she died in July 1902 from wounds received after refusing to submit to the sexual advances of a neighbor, who she later forgave for the attack before she died. Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph
The Rev. Hank Lanik, Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, pauses for a moment with his hand on the reliquary bearing the bones of Saint Maria Goretti, "The Little Saint of Mercy," on Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, outside the church in Tyler, Texas. The reliquary was brought to the church as one of three stops in the state of Texas on its Pilgrimage of Mercy tour to help promote the Holy Year of Mercy called for by Pope Francis, set to begin Dec. 8, 2015. Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP