Pope says Mother Teresa to be made a saint on Sept. 4
Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4.
Pope Francis
set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared
for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong
focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side.
The
announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second
miracle attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession — the final hurdle to
make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th
anniversary of her death.
In Kolkata, the eastern Indian city
where Mother Teresa spent decades caring for the sick and homeless,
there were joyous celebrations at a school and orphanage founded by her
in 1949.
"The news of Mother's sainthood is a matter for joy. But
Mother Teresa is already like God to us," said Jyotsna Patra, one of the
early students of the school, now in her mid-50s.
Archbishop Thomas D'Souza conducted a special Mass on Tuesday, while
the nuns of her order, the Missionaries of Charity, held prayers at her
tomb.
"Mother Teresa's canonization means that the Mother's
message will become better known," said Sister Christi, one of the
senior nuns at the Kolkata headquarters of the order.
The Vatican
ceremony will draw tens of thousands to honor the tiny, stooped nun who
was fast-tracked for sainthood just a year after she died in 1997. St.
John Paul II, who was Mother Teresa's greatest champion, beatified her
before a crowd of 300,000 in St. Peter's Square in 2003.
Born
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, Mother
Teresa joined the Loreto order of nuns in 1928. In 1946, while traveling
by train from Kolkata to Darjeeling, she was inspired to found the
Missionaries of Charity order.
The order was established four
years later and has since opened more than 130 houses worldwide to
provide comfort and care for the needy, dying, sick and "poorest of the
poor."
Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with
Kolkata's destitute and ill — work which continued even after she
herself became sick. She died on Sept. 5, 1997, at age 87. At the time,
her Missionaries of Charity order had nearly 4,000 nuns and ran roughly
600 orphanages, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and clinics.
"She
built an empire of charity," said the Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, editor
of the Vatican-affiliated missionary news agency AsiaNews. "She didn't
have a plan to conquer the world. Her idea was to be obedient to God."
(AP)
Pope Francis talks to a group of Cardinals during a Consistory at the
Vatican Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on
Sept. 4. Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way
for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the
centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful
side.
Pope Francis talks to a group of Cardinals during a Consistory at the
Vatican Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on
Sept. 4. Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way
for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the
centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful
side.
Archbishop of Kolkata,Thomas D'Souza, pink cap, right, and nuns of
Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, join in a
special mass in relation to her canonization, beside her tomb in
Kolkata, India, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Mother Teresa will be made a
saint on Sept. 4. Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving
the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the
centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful
side.
A Catholic nun serves lunch to a poor Albanian at the Mother Teresa
missionary of Charity in Tirana Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Pope Francis
on Tuesday approved the sainthood for Alabanian born Mother Teresa and
set September 4 as the date for her canonization. A portrait of Mother
Teresa hangs on the wall.
Sister Mary Prema, right, Superior General and other nuns of
Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, join in a
special mass in relation to her canonization, beside her tomb in
Kolkata, India, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Mother Teresa will be made a
saint on Sept. 4. Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving
the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the
centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful
side.
Sister Mary Prema, Superior General, Missionaries of Charity, the order
founded by Mother Teresa, smiles as she talks to the media in Kolkata,
India, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on
Sept. 4. Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way
for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the
centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful
side.
Nuns of Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa,
join in a mass and read a special prayer in preparation to her
canonization, beside her tomb in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, March 15,
2016. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4. Pope Francis set
the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared for
the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus
on the Catholic Church's merciful side.
