Mother Teresa Canonized as Saint at Vatican Mass

Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun and Nobel Peace Prize winner known as the "Saint of the Gutters" who dedicated her life to lifting up the downtrodden and underprivileged in India, was elevated into sainthood by Pope Francis at a canonization mass held at the Vatican on Sunday.

Thousands of people filled St. Peter's Square to watch Francis perform the canonization formula. Members of the Catholic church from across the world, including members of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa in 1950 in Calcutta, India, were in attendance.

"With the honor of the blessed Trinity, the exultation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life by the authority of our lord Jesus Christ and of the holy apostles Peter and Paul and our own," Francis said in Latin. "After due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a saint, and we enroll her among the saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole church."

Applause broke out as the holy father finished announcing the formula for the nun under just a day before the 19th anniversary of her death. For the canonization, a huge painting of Teresa hung on the facade of St. Peter's Basilica.

After Teresa was proclaimed a saint, two nuns from the order dressed in white and blue saris presented her relic, which was some of her blood in a vial placed on a cross. The cross was modest, symbolizing a life of giving that Teresa dedicated to the poor. It was made from pieces of wood taken from different countries where the Missionaries of Charity serve. The sisterhood now has more than 3,000 nuns worldwide.

In Calcutta, where she worked with millions who lived in poverty, an emotional crowd celebrated outside the Mother House. A special mass was held at the Missionaries of Charity to celebrate her sainthood.

To some, she was already a saint.

“It’s not becoming a saint. She was always a saint,” Sister Nicole, who oversees the order’s home, told the Washington Post.

Reaching sainthood is the culmination of a long process that began when the late Pope John Paul allowed the procedure to establish her case for sainthood just two years after her death in 1997. Normally, the process is only allowed to begin five years after death. The first step in the process is cause, where Vatican officials recommend if it is worthy enough to continue. After cause comes beatification, which requires a miracle. The first miracle attributed to Teresa is the curing of an Indian woman in 1998 whose stomach tumor disappeared after she prayed to the nun. Doctors have said there was no miracle and the woman was cured by medical treatment.

The second miracle, which is required to move the cause to sainthood, involved a Brazilian man who woke up from a coma caused by a viral brain infection in 2008 following his wife's prayers to the nun. In December, Pope Francis signed a decree that the man's recovery was due to the intercession of Teresa, setting the date for the sainthood.

While she is revered around the world, some have criticized Teresa for several reasons, including the lack of hygiene at the care facilities established by the order. Some have said she painted Kolkata as a city mired with nothing but suffering, ignoring its vibrant culture. Christopher Hitchens, one of her most outspoken critics, wrote in The Missionary Position that Teresa promulgated poverty rather than trying to alleviate it. Hitchens also produced a documentary, Hell Angel, that highlighted the conditions inside her facilities.

Teresa was also accused of misusing funds that came to her charity and some have said she used the poor to spread her religious beliefs. Researchers at the University of Montreal and the University of Ottawa published a report in 2013 that concluded she did not deserve the saintly reputation she had acquired.

The name, "Saint of the Gutters," came from her work in Calcutta's slums. In the city, she set up homes for the dying, refuges for orphans and abandoned children, treatment centers for those suffering from leprosy and much more. Despite the criticism, Teresa's influence and legacy in India is remembered in the country by Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Indians from all walks of life lionized her for helping the poorest of the poor.

Teresa was born in Albania and was sent to India in 1929 after joining the Irish order of Loreto. Sept. 5 will now be celebrated as her feast day.

Image Screenshot via YouTube