TUESDAYAugust 29, 2000 volume 11, no. 154
|
|
NEWS for Tuesday, August 29, 2000 NEW DELHI, Aug. 28 (CWNews.com)
Hundreds of visitors
joined the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity (MC)
congregation founded by the late Mother Teresa on Saturday
in celebrating what would have been Mother's 90th Birthday
with ninety candles lit at her tomb at the MC headquarters
in Calcutta.
Describing Mother's 90 birthday celebration as "beautiful,"
Sister Nirmala, the MC superior general, said on Monday that
"throughout the day, people came enthusiastically to
Mother's tomb -- children, women, and men from all walks of
life."
However, those eagerly awaiting "early" canonization of the
"saint of the gutters" in the Great Jubilee Year were in for
a disappointment when Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, postulator
of the canonization cause of Mother Teresa, told an Indian
newspaper that the case for Mother's canonization will not
be presented to the Vatican in the Jubilee Year.
"We are still in the first phase, gathering information,
testimony, and documents. After the inquiry phase is over
in Calcutta, Rome will study all the collected material and
finally the Church would evaluate the case. Only if
two-thirds of the [members of the Congregation for the
Cause of Saints] vote for sainthood will the Pope give his
assent," The Asian Age English daily quoted the MC
postulator on Monday.
"It is true it is unlikely this year," said Sister Nirmala.
All the same, she said the MC sisters are "not disappointed"
since canonization "cannot be done in a hurry. It takes
time."
On the positive side, Father Kolodiejchuk said that, so
far, three miracles attributed to Mother Teresa -- who died
of heart attack on September 5, 1997 -- have been reported
including that of a woman in Calcutta who claimed Mother's
healing touch cured her malignant tumor.
|
