(Newswire.net — December 18, 2015) — In order for somenone to become a saint, the process goes like this: First, one must live a totally virtuous life. After this person dies, there comes the postulator who gathers information on this person’s life; testimonies of people who knew this person and all available documentation.
After that, a case is presented in front of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes Saints. After serious consideration, if the experts agree on the candidate’s virtuous life, they forward the case to the Pope. He then signs a decree, which is a kind of attest to the candidate’s “heroic virtues”.
If the postulator comes across a person who was miraculously cured by candidate’s intercession and there was no proof of medical cure, the postulator presents the case to the Congregation, as the potential miracle necessary for the act of beatification.
Then the expert panel, consisting of theologians, doctors, bishops and cardinals, must confirm the cure’s instantaneous, complete and lasting nature, produced by the saintly candidate’s intercession.
The case is then forwarded to the Pope, who by signing a decree, gives his permission for the candidate to be beatified. After the second miracle, the candidate becomes a saint.
In the case of Mother Teresa, she was beatified in 2003 when a woman from India called Monica Besra claimed she was cured of a tumor due to Mother Teresa intercession, although at that time there were some doctors who claimed that it was medicine, not a miracle that had cured her.
The second miracle was connected to a Brasilian engineer, who had multiple brain tumors. Just prior to his operation, his wife prayed to Mother Teresa and her husband got well. He didn’t have to have an operation and afterwards they even had two children, although he had been sterile, according to the doctors. All this happened in 2008, eleven years after Mother Teresa’s death.
Since the Vatican panel could not find any medical explanation for the Brasilian man’s cure, they came to a conclusion that it was a miracle and sent the case for the Pope’s approval.
Mother Teresa will probably be canonized on Sunday, September 4, 2016, a day before the anniversary of her death.
She was born in Skopje, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as Agnes Gonxa Bojaxhiu. She was helping poor people in India most of her life and got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. When she was beatified in 2003 she was called Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
Although she lived among poor people and provided them with health care, there were some who thought she was very conservative when it came to contraception and medicine; she was also accused of converting Indian people to Christianity. Nevertheless, she became an international icon.
Sunita Kumar, spokeswoman for the Missionaries of charity religious order founded by Mother Teresa said to Reuters: “We thought her whole life was a miracle. Her whole life was dedicated to the poor and there was nothing else in her mind than service. Everyone was accepted and there was no obstruction in her work”.
For Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Kolkata (Calcutta’s new name) this news from Rome came as “the best Christmas gift”. He said: “Her entire life and work was for the poor. Now it is in a way officially recognized. We are grateful to god”. So are the people of India.