Mother Teresa finally becomes Saint Teresa
"We declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a Saint," the Pope said to a roar from the thousands gathered at St. Peter's Square here, including many Indians who held or waved the Indian flag.
"We enrol her among the Saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," he said, making a long-awaited announcement.
An estimated 1,20,000 people attended the Mass, according to the Vatican Press Office. Crowds flooded the Vatican to celebrate the highly anticipated canonization of Mother Teresa, an event which Catholics and non-Catholics alike had looked forward to since the nun's death in 1997.
Many arrived before dawn to get a good spot for the ceremony, the Catholic News Agency reported. In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the sainthood of Mother Teresa as "a memorable and proud moment" -- reflecting the popular thinking in the country which Teresa made her home.
Cardinal Angelo Amato read a brief biography of Mother Teresa's work and then asked the Pope to canonize her in the name of the Church.
Mother Teresa's life was given to service and she was committed to defending life, especially the "unborn and those abandoned and discarded". She was "a generous dispenser of divine mercy".
"She was committed to defending life, ceaselessly proclaiming that the unborn are the weakest, the smallest, the most vulnerable," the Pope said.
Speaking of Teresa, the Pope noted how she "bowed down before those who were spent … seeing in them their God-given dignity.
"Today, I pass on this emblematic figure of womanhood and of consecrated life to the whole world of volunteers: may she be your model of holiness!"
After the Mass, the Pope thanked everyone, especially the Missionaries of Charity whom he called the "spiritual family of Mother Teresa".
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