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| Photo Credit: BBC |
The nun Mother Teresa, famous for
working with the desperately poor in India, has been declared a saint at
a ceremony in the Vatican.
working with the desperately poor in India, has been declared a saint at
a ceremony in the Vatican.
The BBC News reported that tens of thousands of people flocked to St Peter’s Square as Pope Francis lead the declaration today Sunday 4th September 2016.
Pope Francis said on the @pontifex twitter handle, “Let us imitate Mother Teresa who made works of mercy the guide of her life and the path towards holiness.”
Two miraculous cures of the sick after Mother Teresa’s death in 1997 were attributed to her intercession.
In India, a special Mass was celebrated at the Missionaries of Charity, the order she founded in Kolkata.
Many pilgrims arrived at the Vatican before dawn on Sunday to get a good spot for the Mass.
Some
1,500 homeless people across Italy were also brought to Rome in
buses to be given seats of honour at the celebration – and then a pizza
lunch served by 250 nuns and priests of the Sisters of Charity order.
1,500 homeless people across Italy were also brought to Rome in
buses to be given seats of honour at the celebration – and then a pizza
lunch served by 250 nuns and priests of the Sisters of Charity order.
Mother Teresa founded a sisterhood that runs 19 homes, and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
She died in 1997 – aged 87 – and was beatified in 2003, the first step to sainthood.
In 2002, the Vatican ruled that an Indian woman’s stomach tumour had been miraculously cured after prayers to Mother Teresa.
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| Photo Credit: BBC |
Pope Francis cleared the way for sainthood last year when he recognised a second miracle attributed to her.
Her work complements Francis’ vision of a Church that serves the underprivileged.
Born in 1910 to ethnic Albanian parents, Agnese Gonxha Bojaxhiu grew
up in what is now the Macedonian capital, Skopje, but was then part of
the Ottoman Empire.
up in what is now the Macedonian capital, Skopje, but was then part of
the Ottoman Empire.
Aged 19, she joined the Irish order of Loreto
and in 1929 was sent to India, where she taught at a school in
Darjeeling under the name of Therese.
and in 1929 was sent to India, where she taught at a school in
Darjeeling under the name of Therese.
In 1946 she moved to Kolkata to help the destitute and, after a decade, set up a hospice and a home for abandoned children.
She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. The sisterhood now has 4,500 nuns worldwide.
She achieved worldwide acclaim for her work in Kolkata’s slums, but
her critics accused her of pushing a hardline Catholicism, mixing with
dictators and accepting funds from them for her charity.
her critics accused her of pushing a hardline Catholicism, mixing with
dictators and accepting funds from them for her charity.
It often
takes decades for people to reach sainthood after their death, but
beatification was rushed through by Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis was
known to be keen to complete the process during the Church’s Holy Year
of Mercy, which runs to November 2016.
takes decades for people to reach sainthood after their death, but
beatification was rushed through by Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis was
known to be keen to complete the process during the Church’s Holy Year
of Mercy, which runs to November 2016.
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