Path to Mother's sainthood cleared

Mita Mukherjee, TT, Calcutta, Dec. 18: Pope Francis has approved the second "miracle" attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the process for the late nun to be elevated to sainthood.

The Pope will fix the venue and date of canonisation in January after a meeting with cardinals and archbishops from across the world, Archbishop of Calcutta Thomas D'Souza told The Telegraph .

"We are all delighted. Mother Teresa belonged to the whole world," the archbishop said. "The Vatican's decision is the best Christmas gift one can get."

From Ranchi, Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo said: "It is a very happy moment. But the Holy Father is yet to decide when and how the canonisation will take place."

The venue of the canonisation will be either Rome or Calcutta. If it is Rome, the date is likely to be September 4, the day to honour the work of volunteers as part of the Jubilee of Mercy (a year-long celebration of the virtues of compassion and charity). But a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, called the speculation about the time "premature" and said it was only "a working hypothesis".

If Calcutta is chosen, the ceremony could be held sometime in November. The Pope will then be in the city.

"Though Mother worked for the poorest of the poor of Calcutta, she is revered by the entire world. So there is intense pressure from all over the world to hold the canonisation in Rome. But if the venue is Calcutta, at least 10 months' time is required to make the arrangements for the programme," said an official of the Missionaries of Charity.

An early-stage blueprint for hosting the canonisation in Calcutta was drafted at a meeting early this week in anticipation of the approval of the second miracle, the official said. Pope Francis approved a decree attributing the miracle on Thursday, his 79th birthday.

According to the Missionaries official, all canonisations of Indians had taken place in Rome in the past. But there are precedents of the Pope going to another country for canonisation. Recently, Pope Francis had visited Sri Lanka for a canonisation.

Mother Teresa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, died in 1997 at the age of 87 and was beatified - the first step towards sainthood - in 2003 after the Vatican approved the first miracle attributed to her. The canonisation procedure requires at least two miracles.

The second miracle involved "curing a Brazilian mechanical engineer suffering from multiple brain tumours in 2008". In 2003, the Vatican had recognised the first "miracle" - the healing of Monika Besra of north Bengal, who had an abdominal tumour.