By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/mother-teresa-approved-for-sainthood-next-year Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Mother Teresa to become a saint on Sept. 4 World Mar 15, 2016 11:00 AM EDT Mother Teresa will be canonized as a saint on Sept. 4, The Vatican announced Tuesday. The announcement came months after Pope Francis issued a decree that recognized a second miracle required to canonize the Roman Catholic nun as a saint. The canonization was set a day before the 19th anniversary of her death. Pope Francis issued a decree that recognized a second miracle required to canonize Mother Teresa as a saint, the Vatican announced Friday. “The Holy Father has authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to proclaim the decree concerning the miracle attributed to the intercession of blessed Mother Teresa,” the Vatican said in a statement. According to the church, the qualifying miracle was when the late missionary’s intercession healed a Brazilian man’s brain tumors in 2008. The Catholic nun is expected to be canonized in Rome in September during the church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy. Known as the “Saint of the Gutters,” the late missionary was celebrated for her work among the poor and sick. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Catholic congregation of women that served the destitute and engaged in aid work around the world. The sisterhood has establishment orphanages, adoption services and health clinics with the main office operating out of Kolkata, India. Indian street children with her portrait pray for Mother Teresa in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, on Nov. 28, 1996. Photo by Reuters In 2003, Pope John Paul II recognized the miracle necessary to beatify the nun for healing an Indian woman of an abdominal tumor. Two years after Mother Teresa died in 1997 at age 87, the pope waived the typical five-year waiting period to strengthen her case for beatification and eventual sainthood. Mother Teresa also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She had asked that the monetary award be given to the poor in India. “I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive [the Nobel Peace Prize] in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone,” she said during her acceptance speech. By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas is a senior editor for the PBS NewsHour's Communities Initiative. He also the senior editor and manager of newsletters. @Josh_Barrage
Mother Teresa will be canonized as a saint on Sept. 4, The Vatican announced Tuesday. The announcement came months after Pope Francis issued a decree that recognized a second miracle required to canonize the Roman Catholic nun as a saint. The canonization was set a day before the 19th anniversary of her death. Pope Francis issued a decree that recognized a second miracle required to canonize Mother Teresa as a saint, the Vatican announced Friday. “The Holy Father has authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to proclaim the decree concerning the miracle attributed to the intercession of blessed Mother Teresa,” the Vatican said in a statement. According to the church, the qualifying miracle was when the late missionary’s intercession healed a Brazilian man’s brain tumors in 2008. The Catholic nun is expected to be canonized in Rome in September during the church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy. Known as the “Saint of the Gutters,” the late missionary was celebrated for her work among the poor and sick. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Catholic congregation of women that served the destitute and engaged in aid work around the world. The sisterhood has establishment orphanages, adoption services and health clinics with the main office operating out of Kolkata, India. Indian street children with her portrait pray for Mother Teresa in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, on Nov. 28, 1996. Photo by Reuters In 2003, Pope John Paul II recognized the miracle necessary to beatify the nun for healing an Indian woman of an abdominal tumor. Two years after Mother Teresa died in 1997 at age 87, the pope waived the typical five-year waiting period to strengthen her case for beatification and eventual sainthood. Mother Teresa also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She had asked that the monetary award be given to the poor in India. “I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive [the Nobel Peace Prize] in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone,” she said during her acceptance speech.