Derry Bishop to attend Mother Teresa's canonisation

The Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown and pilgrims from the Derry Diocese will be attending the canonisation of Mother Theresa in Rome on Sunday, it has been confirmed.
Mothere TeresaMothere Teresa
Mothere Teresa

Bishop Mckeown and the rest of the Derry group will be joining Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh, for the special event.

Pope Francis will celebrate the Mass of canonisation in Saint Peter’s Square this Sunday, September 4, on the eve of the 19th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death.

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Archbishop Eamon Martin meanwhile has welcomed the forthcoming canonisation of Saint Mother Teresa

of Calcutta.

The Primate of All Ireland said: “Blessed Teresa is greatly loved and venerated by the faithful throughout Ireland and by millions around the world.

“By declaring Mother Teresa a saint, the Holy Father Pope Francis is affirming her long life of heroic virtue, and outstanding fidelity to God’s grace.”

Archbishop Martin addedd: “Mother Teresa’s canonisation will be a source of great pride and joy to the over 5,000 Missionaries of Charity – sisters, brothers, priests and co-workers – in their 700 convents, who will rejoice wholeheartedly when Pope Francis proclaims that Mother Teresa is a saint.

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“The Loreto Sisters in Ireland whom she joined in Dublin in 1928 and by whom she was sent to India, will also rejoice. In particular, I offer my prayerful good wishes at this time to the Missionary of Charity communities ministering in the Irish dioceses of Armagh, Dublin, Cloyne and Elphin.

“Mother Teresa was a champion of the poor and continues to be a source of inspiration to all of us, especially during this Year of Mercy we are celebrating at the invitation of Pope Francis.

“I look forward to celebrating a Mass of Thanksgiving on Monday 5 September for the Church’s newest saint. All are welcome to join me in Saint Malachy’s Church, Armagh, for this special celebration. “With her canonisation, the Church is offering Saint Teresa of Calcutta to all of us, as a model of hope, charity and mercy.”

Born in 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian parents, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu joined the Loreto Order and lived in Ireland until she was sent to India in 1929.

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There, she worked with the poorest of the poor, a vocation that led her to found her own order, the Missionaries of Charity, in 1950, in Calcutta (now Kolkata).

By 2012, that congregation numbered 4,500 sisters, working among the destitute and outcast in 133 countries. She was regarded by many as a saint within her lifetime and Pope (now Saint) John Paul II waived the usual 5-year waiting protocol to begin the process of her canonisation. Mother Teresa was beatified in 2003.

The Mass of Canonisation for Blessed Mother Teresa will be broadcast on RTÉ One Television this Sunday. Coverage will begin from 9.10am.

RTÉ coverage of the Mass from Saint Peter’s, Rome, will run until 11.30am.

Archbishop Eamon Martin meanwhile will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for Saint Teresa of Calcutta in Saint Malachy’s Church, Armagh on Monday September 5 at 7.30pm.