Mother Teresa to be canonized, Vatican confirms

December 18, 2015

The Vatican has confirmed a second miracle attributed to the intercession of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, clearing the way for her canonization.

On December 17, Pope Francis approved a series of decrees from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, including a decree attesting to the authenticity of the miracle: the spontaneous healing of a Brazilian engineer, just prior to scheduled surgery for a severe brain infection.

“I am overjoyed,” said Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta, responding to the news from Rome. “This Christmas is very special.” On December 18 the archbishop celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving at the mother house of the Missionaries of Charity, the order that Mother Teresa founded.

The date for the canonization of Mother Teresa has not yet been announced. But there is heavy speculation that the ceremony will take place next September 4th or 5th, marking the anniversary of her death in 1997.

In other decrees made public on December 18, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints attested to the “heroic virtue” of three candidates, who will now be eligible for beatification if a miracle is attributed to their intercession. They are:

• Giuseppe Ambrosoli (1923- 1987), an Italian missionary priest;
• Adolfo (Leonardo) Lanzuela Martinez (1894- 1976) Ambrosoli (1923- 1987), a Spanish religious brother; and
• Heinrich Hahn (1800- 1882), a German layman. [Note: CWN, relying on the Vatican Information Service, originally reported that Hahn was an Italian layman. The Vatican's report was incorrect: Hahn was born and died in Aachen, Germany.]

 

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Further information:

• Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be made a Saint (Vatican Radio)
• Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be canonised (VIS)
• Sisters of Calcutta “grateful and overjoyed” at upcoming canonization of Mother Teresa (AsiaNews)
• The Archbishop of Calcutta: "upcoming canonization of Mother Teresa, a gift to the whole of India" (Fides)
• No decision yet on canonization of Mother Teresa, Vatican says, countering rumor (CWN, 11/18)