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Krittivas Mukherjee in Calcutta
The Catholic church might amend its rules to accelerate the process of sainthood for Mother Teresa, a diocesan inquiry looking into her life concluded at the St Mary church in Calcutta on Wednesday.
Calcutta archbishop Henry D'Souza, who presided over the closing of the diocesan inquiry, said there were indications in Vatican newspapers that certain normal processes could be done away with for the Nobel prize winning nun.
"We pray that the sainthood would come as early as it has to come. But we have no indication from the Vatican," he said.
The usually rigid church has already waived aside the mandatory five-year waiting period required to grant anyone sainthood after he or she dies.
The process for conferring sainthood on Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity order, was started a year after the Albanian-born nun's death on September 5, 1997.
Archbishop D' Souza said he hoped that Mother Teresa's beatification would take place in one to two years going by her 'solid reputation of holiness in her own lifetime'.
"Today the first phase ends with the completion of the diocesan inquiry. It was a long process, which involved interviewing hundreds of witnesses and scanning of thousands of documents," he said.
"All this gathered material will now be sent to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints in the Vatican, which will examine the same and recommend or not recommend to the Pope for Mother Teresa's beatification," he said.
Wednesday's ceremony was to have started at 4:00 pm, but commenced after 15-minutes because of a sudden power outage. The ceremony consisted of the official closing of the inquiry and the handing over of the gathered material to postulator Brian Kolodiejchuk.
Kolodiejchuk will present it to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints.
If beatified, which will include recognition of the holiness of Mother Teresa and a 'miracle' performed by her, the revered missionary could be considered for canonization (sainthood). Upon acceptance of the second such 'miracle' by the Pope, the church declares one a saint.
Scores of people contacted by the diocesan inquiry tribunal claimed to have benefited from the 'miracles' of Mother Teresa.
Though the church has been tight-lipped about the details of these 'miracles', it has been reported that the tribunal has selected the case of a tribal girl from West Bengal's Raigunj area who was cured of a stomach tumour after praying to Mother Teresa.
A doctor is believed to have certified the 'cure' as being beyond the comprehension of medical science.
Archbishop D' Souza neither denied nor confirmed the reported miracle.
"We are under an oath of secrecy, but I have heard such a report," he said.
Sister Nirmala, head of the Missionaries of Charity order, said she was happy at the completion of the first stage of Mother's sainthood and prayed 'things could move fast'.
Born in 1910, Mother Teresa is the 14th person from India to be considered for sainthood. Earlier, St Thomas of Tamil Nadu, Francis Xavier of Goa, John D'Britto of Tamil Nadu and Gonsalo Bracia of Bombay had been declared saints.
Five persons have been beatified but await sainthood, while four had been declared venerables.
Indo-Asian News Service
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