Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata, soon to be a saint, is such a world figure, she needs no introduction. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu of Albanian parents on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, in what is Macedonia today, Mother Teresa came to eastern India’s Kolkata city, formerly Calcutta, in 1929, as a missionary nun. Affectionately known as the "saint of the gutter" for her unconditional love for the poor and the abandoned, she founded her Missionaries of Charity congregation in 1950. She earned numerous national as well as international honours for her works of mercy, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She died on September 5, 1997 at the age of 87 and St. John Paul II declared her Blessed in the Vatican, on October 19, 2003. And now Pope Francis will declare her a saint on Sept. 4 at a ceremony here in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square. To know about the preparations taking place in Mother Teresa’s adopted hometown of Kolkata for this great day, we talked on the phone with Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta. He first explained the significance of this canonization for his city.
Article Archive
Kolkata city preparing for Mother Teresa's canonization
Related Articles • More Articles
Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, signs the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).The CEO of Cisco Systems signed the Vatican's artificial intelligence ethics pledge on Wednesday, becoming the latest technology giant to join the Church's call for ethical and responsible use of AI.Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate, met privately with Pope Francis on April 24 before signing the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life. Pope Francis meets with Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThe document, first published by the pontifical academy in February 2020, has previously been signed ...
null / Credit: Brian A Jackson / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).Catholics Charities Corporation in Ohio was found partially negligent this week in the 2017 death of a 5-year-old boy who was being supervised by one of the organization's caseworkers at the time he died.A jury in Cuyahoga County ruled in the wrongful death suit that the Catholic charity group was 8% responsible for Jordan Rodriguez's September 2017 death, local media reported. Rodriguez's body was discovered buried in his mother's backyard three months after he died.The boy's mother and her boyfriend earlier pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from his death, including involuntary manslaughter. Jordan was developmentally disabled and incapable of speaking.In the civil wrongful death trial this week, Catholic Charities Corporation was ordered to pay $960,000 into Jordan Rodriguez's estate. Several ...
null / ShutterstockCNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).As euthanasia and assisted suicide are legalized in more jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world, one Catholic-focused ministry is promoting end-of-life resources that the group's founder says will help Catholics finish their earthly journeys while remaining faithful.Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit that for years has been promoting end-of-life support in line with Church teaching, announced this month the release of "Finishing Life Faithfully," a booklet that "makes complex end-of-life decisions easier." The materials address "basic questions" on how to approach end-of-life topics such as pain management, feeding tubes, and other matters surrounding death.The document "summarizes the Catholic Church's guidance on end-of-life decision-making and the ethical considerations involved and helps patients and families better understand these teachings and follow them," the group said this month.Jim Towey, ...