Saint Teresa of Calcutta: Just 19 years after her death, Mother Teresa, Nobel laureate and the messiah of the poor, was formally canonized thus by Pope Francis at Vatican city today.
"We may have some difficulty in calling her 'Saint' Teresa," Pope Francis said. "Her holiness is so near to us, so tender and so fruitful that we continue to spontaneously call her Mother," he said hailing her as the personification of maternal love.
The founder of the Missionaries of Charity, who brought dignity to the thousands dying on the streets of Calcutta, was honoured at the mid-morning ceremony in front of St Peter's Basilica, which was attended by the more than 100,000 people.
Today, Pope Francis completed the process at a huge mass, followed by a declaration in Latin: "For the honour of the Blessed Trinity... we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (Kolkata) to be a Saint and we enroll her among the Saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole Church".
A huge delegation from India, including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, attended the ceremony. Besides, 15 heads of state were also at the function.
Millions of Catholics revere Mother Teresa as a model of compassion.
Mother Teresa is credited with healing an Indian tribal woman from stomach cancer in 1998 and a Brazilian man from a brain infection in 2008.
Back home in Kolkata - the world headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity - a celebration was held on the occasion. Nuns from the order held prayers at the Mother's tomb, located at the Mother House in Kolkata.
Swami Saradatmananda of Ram Krishna Mission, who also paid floral tributes to Mother Teresa, said: "Today we see how Mother had created space for her in the hearts of the world. We should emulate her service."
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