“As Indians we have to feel proud about the canonisation of Bharat Ratna Mother Teresa. She had dedicated her life for the upliftment of the poor. She was an Albanian, and English language was not her mother tongue and yet she adopted it as her language and served the poor.”- Prime Minister in Mann ki Baat (29 August 2016)

Prime Minister’s statement for Mother Teresa’s canonisation is an expression of his and country’s appreciation of Mother Teresa’s compassionate and loving service to humanity and sacrifice of others serving the marginalised. Mother Teresa merged the Gospel values with Indian values while rendering services to the destitute and poorest of the poor in India. “She sought not to convert, but to make the lives of the people better”, said Most Rev. Theodore Mascarenhas, Secretary General of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, at a press conference held in CBCI, New Delhi, today, 30 August.

The process of Beatification and Canonization is rigorous one. While the process is initiated at the local diocesan level by the Bishop, persons are declared saints by the Pope, only after a thorough examination of the person’s background, life, works, by the special commissions established to examine facts scientifically and from the theological perspective. And it is not the Pope who bestow sainthood, but God alome, while the Pope facilitates the process of behalf of the Church and people, clarified, Abp. Anil Kutto. Mother Teresa was declared the ‘Servant of God’ in 2003, and following two miracles of healing and gift of child, in India and Brazil, respectively, associated with her intercessory powers, she was declared for universal veneration of person by the Pope.

I got to know Mother Teresa in 1975, and while this canonization had to come someday, people of India had already declared her a saint in her lifetime. Her sense of humor and cheerfulness was never captured in the very many books written on her, which she used to lighten the seriousness of the work she was spearheading, that of attending to the poorest and neglected on the streets of Kolkata. She would say, “You cannot go to the poor with a long face”, recalled Mr. Navin Chawla, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, who wrote the authorized biography on Mother Teresa in 1960.

Strands of goodness and sacrifice are always remembered in India across faiths. Faithfulness was what mattered to her most than success, despite the fact that she had among her initial helpers were Bidhan Chandra Roy, second Chief Minister of India’s family, followed by other statesmen. Mr. Chawla recalled, that Mr. Jyoti Basu, a politician belonging to the Communist Party of India, shared that he and Mother Teresa shared in common their love for the poor.

While her critics question why she never used the resources she received to set up a hospital, she was clear that her Home was for the most poor and those on the street sides, and not for the elite. Having a super specialty hospital would have ended up in turning into a business and leaving out such sections of people who fell on the wayside.
She never confided herself to institutions, and moved out to the margins, beyond boundaries of caste, creed, colour and religion.

She continues to inspire Caritas India and the Church, in their endeavor to reach out to the neediest and marginalized people with love and compassion.

Caritas India is trying to demonstrate such model set by Mother and other saints by way of providing food, clothing, shelter and comfort to 6 million people in distress on various accounts including emergencies. Caritas provides support to the displaced, livelihood and nutritional security to the Dalits, Tribals, people with disabilities, and migrants etc, with the vision of “Leave No One Behind”, as the development agenda for itself, remarked Fr. Paul Moonjely, Dy Director, Caritas India. Mother Teresa will continue to inspire us in this work of taking Jesus’ love and compassion to the people.

Government of India delegation under Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj will be visiting Rome to attend the canonization ceremony of Mother Teresa. First time in the history of India, a Bishop has been invited to be a part of the official delegation to Rome. Most Rev. Theodore Mascarenhas will be accompanying Ms. Sushma Swaraj to witness the canonization ceremony, on 4th September 2016, at the Vatican, Rome.