Pope Francis set to canonise Mother Teresa during Vatican mass on September 4

Vatican: Pope Francis is set to canonise Mother Teresa of Calcutta, one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century, as a Catholic saint on September 4, in an open-air mass that is due to attract hundreds of thousands of faithfuls around the world.

Her canonisation is one of the highlights of Pope Francis’ Jubilee of Mercy, a Catholic festival that runs until November 20.
 

Mother Teresa whose real name is Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, the ethnic Albanian Teresa helped the poor in India for the most part of her life.

 

Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 and gained worldwide recognition for her work, including a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

Mother Teresa was a revered figure all over the world, though she was not universally liked due to her hard line opposition to abortion and contraception, as well as readiness to accept donations from dictators, which were an issue of controversy.

After her death in 1997, private letters published revealed that for the last 50 years of her life she despaired over having lost a personal connection with Jesus, as she continued to serve his cause steadfastly.



Pope Francis will lead a mass in St Peter’s Square during which he will be asked three times, in Latin, to add Teresa to the pantheon of Catholic saints.