The statue journey of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Father Hohenstein commissioned the statue, that now resides in the Cathedral, nearly 50 years ago

Cap: Father Robert Hohenstein is shown with Father Rendell Torres in front of the statue of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which now resides at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. (Photo courtesy of Father Hohenstein)

Father Robert Hohenstein has always had a devotion to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint. In 1968, while a deacon at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., he was one of four deacons who carried the casket of then-Blessed Elizabeth Ann Seton from St. Joseph’s College to the new nearby basilica, which is now part of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Father Hohenstein also attended her canonization on Sept. 14, 1975, in Rome, 50 years ago. 

“When Pope Paul VI canonized Mother Seton,” he said. “ ‘St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint! St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint! Now you Americans, when you go back to America, start devotion to Mother Seton,’ ” said Father Hohenstein in an interview with The Evangelist, which sponsored the trip to the canonization in 1975.

Father Hohenstein, who has been a priest in the Diocese of Albany for 57 years, shared with The Evangelist this reflection on the devotion that he started to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton as well as the story of the statue — St. Elizabeth Ann Seton walking over the continent of North America —  that he had made in her honor.

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Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized a saint by Pope Paul VI on Sept. 14, 1975 as the first American-born saint. Present at the canonization was a delegation of pilgrims from the Albany Diocese sponsored by The Evangelist. The banner that hung from St. Peter’s balcony depicted Elizabeth Ann Seton as walking over the continent of North America. Pope Paul VI urged the Americans present at the canonization to return to America and begin devotion “in honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.” As pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians in Albany, I began an “Annual Triduum” at the parish in honor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton that lasted 25 years.

I contacted Robert J. Hedderman, Sr., of the Church Goods Store in Albany, to have a statue made in Italy depicting Elizabeth Ann Seton walking over the continent of North America, the image that would replicate the banner at St. Peter’s in Rome. The statue was formally dedicated at the first “Annual Triduum.” Hedderman and his associate, Marge, were tragically murdered in the Church Goods Store in Albany in 1976. At the second Annual Triduum on Sept. 14, 1977, the statue of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was dedicated to Robert J. Hedderman, Sr.

The statue remained at Our Lady Help of Christians until the parish closed in 2002. The statue was transferred to the Parish of St. Teresa of Avila in Albany and remained there until St. Teresa’s Parish closed in 2009. The statue was then transferred to the Parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Schenectady and re-dedicated on Jan. 3, 2010, the day before Elizabeth Ann Seton’s annual feast on Jan. 4.

The statue was relocated to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany on Aug. 26, 2025. The Very Reverend Rendell Torres, rector, received the statue of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton from me at which time the statue was formally blessed and placed in her new home at the Cathedral. — Father Hohenstein