“She was a messenger who always had something to teach others, not through sermons but through compassion and mercy”, he said.
Advertisement
She was born in 1910 to Albanian parents. She died 19 years ago nearly to the day, September 5, 1997 at the age of 87.
She has been acknowledged in the church for two miracles involving healing the sick.
“I am so proud to be from Kolkata”, said Sanjay Sarkar, a high school student on hand for the celebration. A nine-day prayer service called “Novena’, held in honour of Mother Teresa, ended on Sunday”. For Francis, Mother Teresa put into action his ideal for the church to be a merciful “field hospital” for the poorest of the poor – both materially and spiritually.
It was a matter of great pride for all Indians to be associated with Mother Teresa who was only the fourth Indian to be granted sainthood, Visakha South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar said in his presidential address.
Teresa’s most famous critic, Christopher Hitchens, has accused her of taking donations from dictators ” charges church authorities deny. “She made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognise their guilt for the crime of poverty they created”. 13 heads of state or government were present for the occasion, including Queen Sofia of Spain.
“Those who criticise Mother Teresa, do they know what is the reality of our streets?” The low turnout suggested that financial belt-tightening and security fears in the wake of Islamic extremist attacks in Europe may have kept pilgrims away.
“You can imagine that in 1948, when Bengal was still reeling under the awful after-effects of the bad starvation in which four million people had died, and the partition that came in 1947 and into that she stepped as a single nun, no helper, no companion, no money to speak of”.
For the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, the Canadian priest who spearheaded Teresa’s saint-making campaign, the revelations were further confirmation of Mother Teresa’s heroic saintliness.
“She’s an awesome example of charity, of love, of humility”, said another.
“If I’m going to be a saint, I’m going to be a saint of darkness, and I’ll be asking from heaven to be the light of those who are in darkness on Earth”, she once wrote.
Advertisement
Maria Theresa is considered a symbol of Francis’ papacy, a pope that lives in a hotel room rather than the Apostolic Palace. She continues her legacy of working and praying with the poor alongside other nuns at the Missionaries of Charity. Critics of the Nobel Peace Prize victor says her charity isn’t financially accountable and lacks medically trained personnel.
