Mother Teresa will be declared a saint today by Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square during the Sunday Mass. Pope is making Mother Teresa the model for his Holy Year of Mercy.
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Applause broke out from the tens of thousands in attendance even before Pope Francis finished the canonization at the start of Mass.
Sisters of Charity sisters planned to distribute food to the poor nearby after the ceremony, and community meals were being served across Catholic parishes in India on Sunday – a symbolic reference to Mother Teresa’s lifetime of service to humanity, said the Rev. Savarimuthu Sankar of the archdiocese of New Delhi. With grateful deference I greet all the high Authorities present, in particular those coming from countries joined most closely to the figure of the new Saint, as well as the official delegations and the numerous pilgrims who have come from so many countries on this happy occasion.
Pope Francis said. “May this tireless worker of mercy help us to increasingly understand that our only criterion for action is gratuitous love, free from every ideology and all obligations, offered freely to everyone without distinction of language, culture, race or religion”.
“For Mother Teresa, mercy was the “salt” which gave flavor to her work, it was the “light” which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering”.
“Let the example of Mother Teresa inspire all of us to dedicate ourselves to the welfare of mankind”, said Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.
At the order’s Mother House in Kolkata, hundreds of people watched the Mass on TV and clapped with joy when Francis declared her a saint.
Bill McKinstry told 22News, “I didn’t know anything about it her being here, until her limo driver came in and bought some strawberries”.
He said, “With great spontaneity, I think we will continue to call her Mother Teresa”.
The small Italian woman said, “Mother Teresa is a sign of the times”.
Despite being widely revered as one of the holiest women of the 20th century, Mother Teresa’s legacy has been called into question by several critics.
About 1,500 homeless people from across Italy were bused into the Vatican to be given seats of honor at the Mass – and be served a pizza lunch by nuns afterward.
Mother Teresa had cared for the poorest of poor and wounded. “She was a living saint and an inspiration to me”, the 32-year-old said.
Mother Theresa’s writings were also problematic for her entry into sainthood, with entries apparently suggesting a wavering faith in God. It was at that time that she had replaced her traditional Loreto habit with a simple white cotton sari decorated with a blue border.
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Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1979. Notably, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a global congregation that provides aid to the the poor, infirm and homeless. They say that often led her to provide only minimal and unhygienic services to the needy in her care.
