05 September,2016 09:13 AM IST | | Agencies
In a canonisation ceremony by Pope Francis, Mother Teresa was elevated to sainthood
Pope Francis waves to the faithful after the canonisation of Mother Teresa at Saint Peter's square in the Vatican. Pic/AFP
Vatican City: Mother Teresa, the nun whose work with the dying and destitute of Kolkata made her a global icon of Christian charity, was made a saint yesterday.
Her elevation to Roman Catholicism's celestial pantheon came in a canonisation mass in St Peter's square in the Vatican that was presided over by Pope Francis, who sees her as the embodiment of his vision of a "poor church for the poor", in the presence of 100,000 pilgrims. "For the honour of the Blessed Trinity...we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata) to be a Saint and we enroll her among the Saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole Church," the pontiff said.
The ceremony came a day before the 19th anniversary of Teresa's death in Kolkata, the city where she spent nearly four decades tending to the poorest of the poor.
Such was the demand from pilgrims, the Vatican could easily have issued double the number of tickets but for space and security restrictions. Helicopters had earlier buzzed over the headquarters of the Roman Catholic church, testifying to the huge but relatively discreet security operation under way. Some 3,000 officers were on duty to ensure the day passed off peacefully.
Road to sainthood
By historical standards, Teresa has been fast-tracked to sainthood, thanks largely to John Paul II. The Polish cleric was a personal friend of Teresa and as the pope at the time of her death, he was responsible for her being beatified in 2003. Achieving sainthood requires the Vatican to approve accounts of two miracles.
The first one, ratified in 2002, was of an Indian woman, Monica Besra, who says she recovered from ovarian cancer a year after Teresa's death. In the second, approved last year, Brazilian Marcilio Haddad Andrino says his wife's prayers to Teresa led to brain tumours disappearing. Eight years later, Andrino was in the congregation on Sunday.
