Mother Teresa sainthood on Sept 4

The sainthood of Mother Teresa of Kolkata receive its final approval from Pope Francis on Tuesday. The Holy See at Vatican, headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, announced that Mother Teresa, widely known as ‘saint of the gutters’, will be known as Saint Teresa from September 4, following an elaborate ceremony.

Confirming the date and Vatican’s approval, Father Brian Kolodiejchuk said that Pope Francis held a Public Ordinary Consistory of Cardinals and Bishops for the Canonisation of Blesseds at Vatican on Tuesday and approved Mother Teresa’s canonisation.

“The canonisation will be held on  September 4 this year in Rome during the Sunday mass, celebrated as part of the Jubilee for workers and volunteers of Mercy,” he said.

Father Kolodiejchuk is the postulator or papal officer in charge of overseeing Mother Teresa’s canonisation process. Speaking on behalf of



Missionaries of Charity, the worldwide charity organisation Mother Teresa founded at Kolkata in 1950s, he said, “The entire Missionaries of Charity family — Sisters, Brothers, Fathers, co-workers, Corpus Christi Movement for Priests, lay associates, volunteers, benefactors, friends of different faiths, and especially the poorest of the poor — rejoice and are grateful to Pope Francis.”

The Vatican Postulator pointed out that of the two miracles necessary for canonisation, the first was noticed in Monica Besra, a tribal woman from Bengal, who was cured of terminal cancer in 1998 after she prayed to a photograph of Mother Teresa.

The second miracle was an incident in 2008, when a man from Santos in Brazil reported to have been cured of a terminal tumour after similar prayers. The Brazilian’s miracle came to light in late 2013 and received the Vatican’s approval in December 2015.