Hundreds of people in the crowds held up signs showing support for the nun born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in the Ottoman Empire near the border between modern-day Albania and Macedonia before beginning her missionary work in India.
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Applause broke out before he completed the formula of canonization, in which he declared “Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a saint”.
One question remains: why has the Church Pope taken so much of time in recognizing the Mother as Saint Teresa for her services to Christianity and humanity?
“To us, she was already a saint even before her death”.
She said that “born in Skopje, she will be an inspiration for me and many other generations that will come”. He admitted even he would find it hard to call her “St. Teresa” since her tenderness was so maternal.
The Year of Mercy, and September, in particular, aligns perfectly with the canonization of Mother Teresa. She was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. “Singing What Child Is This to celebrate her life and legacy will be a moment I cherish forever”.
“Saint of the Gutters” and “Angel of Mercy”, were among the sobriquets she picked up over the course of almost four decades working with the wretched poor of Kolkata and building her Missionaries of Charity order into a global force. “Because she understood their pain, she was a solace, a helping hand and a source of comfort to them”, he said.
“She made her voice heard before the powers of the world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crimes of poverty they themselves created”, he said, repeating for emphasis “the crimes of poverty”.
Pope Francis said Sunday morning that people may struggle to refer to the Albanian nun as “Saint Teresa”.
They congregated around Mother’s tomb, which was decorated with a single lighted candle, flowers and a photo of the tiny saint. Speaking in Latin, he declared blessed Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata) to be a Saint.
Sanjay Sarkar, a local high school student, said it was a special day for the city. He said, “With great spontaneity, I think we will continue to call her Mother Teresa”.
In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata was canonised as a saint for the entire Catholic Church on September 4, 2016, at the Vatican by Pope Francis which was deeply religious and yet beyond religion. Thirteen heads of states and Governments are present at the St. Peter basilica, along with hundreds of thousands of worshipers.
President Gjorge Ivanov leads the Macedonian delegation in Rome, that inlcludes Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev, Foreign and Culture Ministers Nikola Poposki and Elizabeta Kanceska Milevska, Nikola Gruevski – leader of the VMRO-DPMNE party, Zoran Zaev from the SDSM party, representatives of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church in Macedonia and members of Mother Teresa’s family are in the delegation.
The church credits Saint Teresa, known as the “saint of the gutters”, with having performed two miracles. Many pilgrims arrived at the Vatican before dawn on Sunday to get a good spot for the Mass, BBC reported. For the homeless, Francis offered a luncheon afterward in the Vatican auditorium, catered by a Neapolitan pizza maker who brought his own ovens for the event.
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An estimated 120,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square for the canonization ceremony, less than half the number who turned out for her 2003 beatification.
