High officials of India came to Vatican in Rome, Italy to witness the canonization of Mother Teresa on Sunday.
Ordinary people and even high officials look up to Mother Teresa as an icon, thus, every body is willing to witness her canonization on September 4.
On Sunday, Mother Teresa will officially be declared as a saint.
This came less than 20 years after her death in India, since then Pope John Paul II decided to fast-track her canonization after mysteries were proven in relation to her.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning nun is widely as a humanitarian icon across India. To prove, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said “it is natural for every Indian to take pride” in the sainthood of Mother Teresa.
The nun was born in Skopje, Macedonia but she arrived in India in 1929. She became a citizen in 1951 where she started to introduce iconic humanitarian activities for the poor.
She is widely revered by Catholics for her work with the poor in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. There she set up her own religious order in 1950.
But as she tried to leave a legacy in India did not survive without its critics. Many people questioned over poor hygiene and medical standards conditions at the care homes and facilities run by her Missionaries of Charity sisterhood.
Skeptics have also raised doubts about the miracles attributed to her by the Vatican as it prepares to declare her a saint and have accused her of glorifying poverty. The late writer Christopher Hitchens was among her most strident critics, labeling her “a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.”
Despite of this, Mother Teresa will be officially declared as saint, less than two decades after she died.
As Pope Francis prepares to declare Mother Teresa a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, a group of top Indian politicians already flew to the Vatican to witness her canonization.
In the city of Kolkata and other parts of India, many view the Nobel Peace Prize-winning nun as a humanitarian icon.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, paid tribute to her in his regular radio address this week, saying Mother Teresa had “spent her entire life in the service of people belonging to economically weaker and underprivileged sections.” “She molded herself (to Indian conditions) and served the people of India. It is natural for every Indian to take pride in the moment when such a mother is declared a saint,” he said.
To witness the occasion for Mother Teresa on Sunday, Modi’s government is sending an 11-strong delegation to the Vatican.
They are led by India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, joined by the chief minister of the Indian capital New Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, who volunteered with the Missionaries of Charity as a young man. Mamata Banerjee, another regional leader who is the chief minister of West Bengal state will also travel to the Vatican, along with a number of other politicians and officials from across the country.