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Sainthood for Mother Teresa next year

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

Mother Teresa will be declared a saint next year.

A communique in this regard has been sent to the Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry D’Souza.

The Vatican has appointed Father Brian of the Missionary Fathers of Charity as the postulator – who will present Mother Teresa's case for sainthood.

The Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta elected Father Brian to be the postulator as he was very close to Mother and maintains a low profile. He is based in Rome and a superior of one of the Missionaries of Charity homes there. He will arrive in Calcutta on March 9 and begin the process of beatification and then canonisation.

According to the Vatican's rules, the process for canonisation – declaring a person as a saint – can begin only five years after a person's death. The five year period is mandatory and was introduced on February 7, 1983 by the Vatican.

However, on September 5 last year, on Mother's first death anniversary, the papal office received thousands of appeals from all over the world urging Pope John Paul II to declare Mother a saint in 2000.

The papal office had then reiterated that the Pope's position remained unchanged and stated, "Rome has its rules. The mandatory five years waiting period will stay."

Sister Nirmala, who succeeded Mother to head the Missionaries of Charity, had then left the decision to the Pope and declined to comment on the process of canonisation which needed three steps.

First, a person has to be declared a Servant of God to the Vatican, which the Archbishop of Calcutta has already done .

Second, for being beatified a miracle has to be reported and one more to be canonised. Only then can an individual be declared a saint.

However, the Pope has the power to waive these steps and declare Mother a saint.

According to Archbishop D’Souza, while he was on a tour of Palestine he came across a case of a child who was suffering from bone cancer but cured miraculously. One night in her dream the child saw a woman draped in a white veil with blue border who told her, "Child you are cured." The next morning the child pointed to Mother Teresa's photograph and identified her as the woman in her dream. Subsequent medical examination revealed that her cancer was gone.

Another case mentioned a woman in the US, ailing with a swollen foot which needed amputation. But after she prayed to Mother Teresa for relief she was cured.

Both these cases have been reported to the Vatican.

The paperwork for canonisation usually takes more than 10 years. A compilation of documents on Mother's work has to be submitted to the Vatican. An episcopal delegate to represent the archbishop needs to be appointed while a Promoter of Justice will evaluate Mother's work. In the end a postulator will petition the Vatican to declare her a saint taking into account her miracles.

The good news for the Missionaries of Charity came in December. The Pope wrote to Archbishop D’Souza stating, "The Supreme Pontiff has hereby granted the dispensation from the norm so that a petition to start the case of beatification and canonisation of the Servant of God Teresa, the foundress of the congregation of the Missionary Sisters and Brothers of Charity, could be initiated before the five-year period of her death."

According to Archbishop D'Souza soon after Mother died he received around 80 petitions from bishops all over the world urging him to appeal to the Pope to waive the mandatory five-year period.

After Father Brian arrives in Calcutta he will list the miracles and petition the Vatican. For beatification the Vatican will ask Mother's grave at Mother House to be opened. Three witnesses will certify that her body rests there. After receiving the final report from the postulator, the Vatican will declare her Saint Teresa.

EARLIER SERIES:
Mother Teresa, The Legacy

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