MOTHER TERESA CANONIZED A SAINT IN SEPTEMBER

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

According to news agency AGI, she may be canonised next year, the most likely date being 4 September. But the miracle attributed to her – confirmed by doctors from the medical council of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints – still needs to be approved by the dicastery’s cardinals and bishops

andrea tornielli vatican city Mother Teresa will be proclaimed a saint next September: this is according to Italian news agency AGI, which also mentioned 5 September – the feast day of the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta – as a possible date for the celebration. The date, which will fall on a Monday, marks the 106^th anniversary of the birth of Mother Teresa, born Anjëzë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. The nun was born in Skopje, Albania and became a symbol of love for the poor, living among them in the streets of Calcutta. It is far more likely, however, that the canonisation will take place a day earlier, on Sunday 4 December that is.

But some further steps are needed before the canonisation can become official. Vatican insider has learnt that the miracle attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession, will be examined by cardinals and bishops from the Congregation of the Causes of Saints next month.  Although cardinals do not carry out an examination as such – this is done by the dicastery’s medical council and the outcome in this case was positive –, they could ask for further evidence, which could prolong the whole process. Once the Congregation’s bishops and cardinals have deliberated, the Prefect presents the decision to the Pope, who approves the miracle and announces the date of the canonisation ceremony at the Consistory of cardinals.

The miracle which could lead to Mother Teresa being raised to the altars, is the scientifically inexplicable healing of a Brazilian man who was in the final stages of a malignant brain tumour. The Catholic man from the diocese of Santos, experienced a full recovery after praying intensely to Mother Teresa: the cancer, which had spread extensively in the brain, suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared from the patient’s TACs.

During his trip to Tirana in September 2014, Francis described his encounter with Mother Teresa of Calcutta at the 1994 Synod. The Blessed woman was never fazed by anything, not even the Synod assembly and “always said what she wanted to say”, Francis confided to the priest who had acted as his interpreter during his visit to Albania. This comment was later revealed at the press conference in Tirana, by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Lombardi.

Remembering the circumstances of his meeting with the Blessed woman known for her work among the poorest of the poor, Francis said: “She sat right behind me during the sessions. I admired her strength, the determinedness with which she spoke, never letting herself be fazed by the assembly of bishops. She said what she wanted to say…” Francis said before adding with a smile on his face: “If she had been my superior I would have been scared!”