Mother Teresa Canonization Imminent

Vatican Radio reports that His Holiness, Pope Francis yesterday authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Teresa (nee Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu).

The Pope met with Cardinal Amato, the Prefect of said Congregation, on Thursday, December 17th. 

The relevant data was presented to the experts (bishops, theologians, doctors, etc) who help discern with the Pope the reputed sanctity of a candidate and the miracle said to be attributed to the person.

The miracle at Blessed Teresa’s intercession was of a Brazilian man cured of brain abscesses.

No date has been set for the canonization.

Mother Teresa is likely the most recognizable Catholic in the world because of her work among the poor. Blessed Teresa was born in Albania on August 26, 1910 and died September 5, 1997. She was foundress of the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.

Reflecting on the declaration of Blessed Teresa’s being declared a saint, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza, the Archbishop of Calcutta [Kolkata] said, “Her entire life was spent doing works of mercy,” he said. “Her entire life was spent in service to the poor…she was reflecting God’s love here among the poorest of the poor, and so it comes as a very significant event in this Year of Mercy that the Holy Father has given to the Church.”

Mother Teresa was beatified by Saint John Paul II on October 19, 2003.