Mother Teresa, known for her selfless service to poor people in India, has been declared a saint by Pope Francis on Sunday.
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Masses and special prayers marked the 19th death anniversary of Mother Teresa on Monday, a day after she was conferred sainthood by Pope Francis at the Vatican.
“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”.
As if to emphasize the point, which Francis himself has made repeatedly, he repeated: “The crimes of poverty they themselves created”.
Almost 1,500 homeless people from around Italy were taken to the Vatican to be given seats of honour at the mass, and fed by nuns afterwards.
Pope Francis blesses with an incense burner as he leads a mass for the canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican, September 4, 2016. Francis also used his sermon to recall Teresas fervent opposition to abortion, which she termed murder by the mother in a controversial Nobel Peace prize speech in 1979. But he said while he was happy to see Mother Teresa become a Saint, he wishes it happened earlier. The guests came from shelters run by the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Mother Teresa, in the cities of Milan, Bologna, Florence and Naples. By canonizing her during his Jubilee Year of Mercy, he in some ways is making her the icon of his entire pontificate. Among the crowd were some 1,500 people who are helped by the Italian branches of Mother Teresa’s order, the Missionaries of Charity. “She took utmost care and spent the valuable medicines for them and told them that God loves them all without any discrimination”, he added.
The Polish cleric was a personal friend of Teresa and as the pope at the time of her death, he was responsible for her being beatified in 2003.
Some say the church expedited her sainthood because of her fame and reputation. During the service, the head of the Catholic church paid tribute to Teresa, declaring her a model of mercy.
An estimated 120,000 people filled St Peter’s Square in Rome for the canonisation mass for Mother Teresa.
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“She had that handsome saying, ‘God doesn’t want us to be flawless, he only wants us to be faithful.’ And she was faithful even in times of trial”, Dolan said.
