Mother Teresa of Calcutta will be proclaimed a saint next Sunday in an open-air Mass led by Pope Francis.
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, the ethnic Albanian Teresa helped the poor in India for most of her life. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and gained worldwide recognition for her work, including a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
“The canonization of Mother Teresa invites us to look to her as a Christian hero, an outstanding model of the Christian life,” the Canadian priest who promoted her sainthood cause, the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, said in March.
Teresa was a revered figure throughout the world, but not universally liked. Her hard-line opposition to abortion and contraception, and her willingness to accept donations from dictators, have been a matter of controversy.
Private letters published after her death in 1997 also revealed that for the last 50 years of her life she despaired over having lost a personal connection with Jesus.
In a preface to a book on Teresa, Francis recalled how giving to the needy is a key Christian teaching. “Mother Teresa made this page of the Gospel the guide for her life and the path to her holiness — and it can be for us, as well.”
The pope will lead a Mass in St. Peter’s Square during which he will be asked three times, in Latin, to add Teresa to the long list of Catholic saints.