Father Thomas Hoban, pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Lansford, returned from Rome, Italy, last Friday, after experiencing what he called “a highlight of my life,” the canonization of St. Elizabeth Seton, the first American elevated to the sainthood in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

Accompanying Father Hoban were Monsignor James McHale, director of Holy Family Manor, Bethlehem, and Father Francis Fromholzer, pastor of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Reading.

Father Hoban was privileged to receive a first-class relic, a bone chip from St. Elizabeth Seton’s remains, from Cardinal Guarie, treasurer of the Roman Catholic Church stationed in Vatican City.