POPE BEATIFIES MOTHER TERESA BEFORE 300,000 PEOPLE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 19, 2003 (VIS) - Today in St. Peter's Square, before 300,000 people, including members of twenty-seven official delegations who were in Rome for the ceremony, John Paul II beatified Servant of God Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Sr. Nirmala Joshi, superior general of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, attended the Mass, accompanied by thousands of sisters. Three thousand poor and destitute occupied seats close to the altar.

In the homily which was read by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, and Cardinal Ivan Dias, archbishop of Bombay, the Pope noted that the foundress of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity became a servant to all. "I am personally grateful to this courageous woman," he said, "whom I always felt alongside me. An icon of the Good Samaritan, she went everywhere to serve Christ in the poorest of the poor. Not even conflicts and wars held her back."

The Pope recalled what Mother Teresa said when she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979: "If you know of any woman who does not want to keep her baby and wants to abort, try to convince her to bring that child to me. I will love that child, seeing in him or her the sign of the love of God."

"Is it not significant that her beatification takes place on the day in which the Church celebrates World Mission Day? With the witness of her life Mother Teresa reminds us that the evangelizing mission of the Church is transmitted through charity, nourished in prayer and listening to the word of God. ... Mother Teresa proclaims the Gospel with her life completely dedicated to the poor, but at the same time, full of prayer."

Referring to Jesus' words on the cross, "I am thirsty," the Holy Father indicated that "satiating Jesus' thirst for love and for souls in union with Mary, the mother of Jesus, had become the sole aim" of the new blessed.

"Mother Teresa," he continued, "shared in the passion of the Crucifixion especially during the long years of 'interior darkness'. It was a trial, at times excruciating, welcomed as a singular 'gift and privilege'. In the darkest hours she relied more on prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. This spiritual tribulation made her identify even more with those whom she served every day, experiencing sorrow and even rejection. She liked to say that the greatest poverty is to be unwanted, to not have anyone to take care of you."

John Paul II concluded by asking that "we give praise for this small women in love with God, humble messenger of the Gospel and tireless benefactor of humanity. We honor in her one of the most relevant personalities of our time. Let us welcome her message and let us follow our example."

At the end of the Mass, before the Angelus, the Pope saluted those present in English, Macedonian, Albanian and Italian. He then circled St. Peter's Square in the open white jeep to greet the faithful who had filled both the square and the broad street leading up to it, Via della Conciliazione.

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