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27-582: The Mopan River's rate of discharge has been measured regularly since 1981 at the river gauge station in Benque Viejo, Belize . According to these measurements, the river's annual mean discharge varies between 20 and 40 m/s. The highest rate ever recorded was 404 m/s in November 1990. Although the Mopan may contribute to downstream flooding during the rainy season, it responds much slower to rain storms than

54-481: A considerable banking fortune. Her uncle, Anthony Joseph Drexel , was the founder of Drexel University in Philadelphia. Katharine's mother Hannah died five weeks after her birth, and Anthony Joseph and his wife Ellen cared for Katharine and Elizabeth for the next two years. Her father married Emma Bouvier in 1860, brought his older children home, and had a third daughter, Louise, in 1863. The girls grew up in

81-832: A convent of the Sisters of Mercy and in February 1891, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. Drexel decided to establish the congregation to address the needs of Native Americans and African Americans in the southern and western United States, as well as the poor black communities. She served as first Superior General of the congregation and held that position until 1937, when illness made it necessary that she retire from active administration. An appeal by

108-460: A wealthy and religious household with charitable principles. Emma regularly distributed food and clothing at her home to people. The family lived on a 90-acre estate in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia was named St. Michel in honor of Saint Michael, the archangel . James O'Connor was pastor of St. Dominic's in the nearby Holmesburg section of Philadelphia, and served as chaplain to

135-439: Is degraded from sediment , nutrient loading, untreated sewage discharge, pesticides and other toxins. The major source of degradation is the extensive deforestation in the upper reaches and non- sustainable agriculture . Karper and Boles have asserted: "The greater Mopan/Belize River Catchment provides a prime example of a watershed under stress from extensive non-sustainable agricultural practices that have occurred within

162-613: The Guatemalan border. San Ignacio lies 13 km to the east and Melchor de Mencos just across the border. The Mopan River runs along the town's north and west edges. Benque was first settled by Maya from Flores, El Petén , Guatemala . It grew as a lumber camp on the Mopan River that flowed into the Belize River, to the coast at Belize Town. The Mayas had been catechized by Spanish Catholic missionaries, leading to

189-626: The Knights of Columbus , Santo Domingo Council, Philadelphia, 1938; and an award and scroll by the Catholic Committee of the South, 1942. Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988, when her first miracle through prayer—healing the severe ear infection of teenage Robert Gutherman in 1974—was accepted. She was canonized on October 1, 2000, when her 1994 miracle of reversing congenital deafness in 2-year old Amy Wall

216-641: The Society of the Sacred Heart at their motherhouse at Eden Hall in Torresdale, where Katharine's maternal aunt was mother superior . In 1876, James O'Connor was appointed vicar apostolic of Nebraska , an area that covered Nebraska , northeastern Colorado , Wyoming , and parts of Utah , Montana , and the Dakotas . He was consecrated titular Bishop of Dibona at the chapel at Eden Hall. Katharine

243-629: The Wayback Machine in Sugar Grove, Illinois . Numerous Catholic parishes, schools, and churches are dedicated to St. Katharine Drexel. Schools St. Katharine Drexel founded or funded include (but are not limited to) : Schools named in her honor include: The choir loft window in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Sioux, Saint Joseph's Indian School, Chamberlain, South Dakota, was donated by

270-607: The Mopan Valley Archaeology Project. Archaeological surveys have identified the remains of several hundred ancient structures in these areas, with the highest density occurring in the area near Xunantunich. Popular activities on the Mopan River include kayaking and river tubing . Benque Viejo, Belize Benque Viejo del Carmen ("Benque") is the westernmost town in Belize , 130 km (81 mi) by road west and south of Belize City , at

297-733: The early 1990s, beginning in Benque. Deacon Cal Cathers of SOLT founded BRC printing in Benque to improve the quality of elementary school textbooks in Belize, with his grandson Daryl Rene Calvin Cathers to implement and encourage further development for humble town. At the time of the 2010 census, Benque Viejo del Carmen had a population of 6,148. Of these, 93.4% were Mestizo , 2.4% Mixed , 1.5% Creole , 0.7% Asian , 0.5% Garifuna , 0.4% Mennonite , 0.3% Caucasian , 0.3% Mopan Maya , 0.2% Yucatec Maya , 0.1% Ketchi Maya and 0.1% African . During

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324-548: The first years of the 21st century Benque experienced a rapid boom in population. In 2010 its population, mostly of Maya or Mestizo descent, was 5,824 (2,906 males and 2,918 females); households numbered 1,415 with average size 4.1. In terms of languages spoken (multiple answers allowed), 97.0% spoke Spanish , 69.9% English , 7.4% Creole , 0.6% Mandarin or Cantonese , 0.5% Garifuna , 0.3% Yucatec Maya , 0.2% Ketchi Maya , 0.2% Mopan Maya , 0.1% German and 0.3% other languages; 0.1% could not speak. Benque has long been

351-487: The late Archbishop James H. Blenk brought Mother Katharine to New Orleans in 1915 to open the way for the education of the black youth in the city. This led to the purchase of the old Southern University site, and establishing Xavier High School, later known as Xavier Preparatory School. She financed more than 60 missions and schools around the United States, as well as founding Xavier University of Louisiana  –

378-531: The night of 16 November 1937 a fire destroyed the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and Fr. Kuenzel undertook to build the new church. In 1950, Kuenzel persuaded the Town Board to name the new football field after Corporal Marchalleck through whose "self-sacrificing interest and persevering efforts [the] football campus came as if by magic out of what was hitherto useless tropical bush.". St. Joseph Convent on

405-582: The only historically Black and Catholic university in the United States. She financed Mother Loyola, the blood sister and successor of foundress Lucy Eaton Smith of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de' Ricci, to care for Afro-Cuban children in Havana, Cuba during and after the Spanish–American War . The children had been orphaned by the war, and no other church or government entity

432-694: The other major tributary of the Belize River, the Macal . Both rivers yield similar volumes on average, but the Mopan watershed is less mountainous than the Macal watershed, giving it less intense flood waves. The combined Mopan River/Belize River watershed contains 11% of the population of the Peten District in Guatemala and 45% of the population of Belize. These populations depend on the river for drinking water and other domestic uses; however, water quality

459-461: The place where tourists and merchants cross to Melchor and purchase Maya textiles . Now Guatemalan youth cross the border each day to receive a secondary education in English. Benque offers primary and secondary education, supermarkets , an annual fiesta, and is home to a Belize Premier Football League team. The ancient Maya ruins of Xunantunich are nearby. Film director Caleb Botton used

486-630: The predominance of the Catholic church in Benque, which holds the earliest Baptismal records in Cayo District from Jesuit Fr. Bavastro in May 1865. In 1877 the town was served by Manuel Ignacio Santa Cruz Loidi , a Basque priest and military leader in the unsuccessful effort to defeat the liberals in Spain's Third Carlist War . During the 1880s Fr. Jose Maria Pinelo, a refugee from Petén during

513-551: The presidency of Manuel Barillas , visited Benque, remaining from 1887 to 1889. In the 1890s the population was about 500. In 1904 a permanent Catholic residency was established by Jesuit Fr. William “Buck” Stanton . Then in 1913, at the persuasion of Jesuit Fr. Versavel, the Pallottine sisters came from Germany and served first in Benque . Mother (Saint) Katharine Drexel subsidized their convent from her inheritance. On

540-431: The region over the past three decades." Slash-and-burn agricultural practices by native peoples are contributing to such watershed degradation. Several important Maya archaeological sites are situated along the Mopan River. From upriver to downriver, these include Ucanal , Arenal , Xunantunich , Actuncan , and Buenavista del Cayo . Several of these sites and associated settlement areas have been studied as part of

567-554: The street of that name was completed in 1952. On 18 January 1961 Fr. Sontag, Jesuit pastor in Benque, was found murdered at his desk in the rectory, with a machete the likely weapon. The perpetrator and motive remain a mystery. In 1963 a Catholic primary school building of reinforced concrete was built. The next year the Jesuits handed the parish over to the diocesan clergy, with Fr. Herbert Panton its first native pastor. The Catholic community SOLT increased its presence in Belize from

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594-584: The town as the backdrop for 7 Days in Carmel which featured Benque's Holy Week processions. As of May 2015, the mayor is Heraldo "Rancha" Ramcharan Jr. of the United Democratic Party , which also controls the town council. 17°04′N 89°08′W  /  17.067°N 89.133°W  / 17.067; -89.133 Katharine Drexel Katharine Drexel , SBS (born Catherine Mary Drexel ; November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955)

621-696: Was an American Catholic religious sister , and educator. In 1891, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament , a religious congregation serving Black and Indigenous Americans . Canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000, Drexel was the second person born in what is now the United States to be declared a saint and the first who was born a U.S. citizen. Drexel was born Catherine Marie Drexel in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, on November 26, 1858, to Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Langstroth. She had an older sister, Elizabeth. Her family owned

648-582: Was awakened to the plight of indigenous American people during a family trip to the Western United States and was inspired. In these early years, Drexel traveled extensively, both in her home country and abroad. In 1886, during an audience with Pope Leo XIII , she was urged to become a missionary and to realize her desire to assist the Indian and African American population in the country. In 1889, Katharine Drexel fulfilled that wish by entering

675-673: Was recognized. The Vatican cited a fourfold legacy of Drexel: Her feast day is observed on March 3, the anniversary of her death. She was buried in Cornwells Heights , Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania . The Saint Katharine Drexel Mission Center and National Shrine was formerly located at St. Elizabeth's Convent in Bensalem, Pennsylvania . The Mission Center offered retreat programs, historic site tours, days of prayer, presentations about Saint Katharine Drexel, as well as lectures and seminars related to her legacy. The convent

702-705: Was subsequently sold and in August, 2018, Drexel's remains were transferred to a new shrine at the. Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. A second-class relic of Drexel can be found inside the altar of the Mary chapel at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in Raleigh, North Carolina , and in the Day Chapel of Saint Katharine Drexel Parish Archived July 28, 2011, at

729-712: Was willing to support them because they were children of color. In 1942, the Republic of Haiti acknowledged her with the Honneur et Merite Medal and the following year, she was recipient of the Sienna Medal for the most distinctive contribution to Catholic life in the United States. Other honors included the DeSmet Medal from Gonzaga University , Spokane, Wash., 1938; the Catholic Action Medal from

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