Kolkata celebrating Mother Teresa’s centennial

KOLKATA, May 13, 2010, 10:40 Hrs (Asia News/ Nirmala Carvalho):

"There is enthusiasm and joy among the people of Kolkata, who are getting ready to celebrate the centennial birth of the Blessed Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charity. The city in which the Blessed worked almost her entire life will host a series of initiatives to remember her and her teachings," said Eugene Gonsalves, president of the Catholic Association of Bengal. Speaking to AsiaNews, he said, "We are full of joy with the idea of celebrating the centennial of our beloved Mother as she is called."

Local Catholics "are praying and hoping wholeheartedly that the canonisation of Mother Teresa will be announced during this anniversary," he said. "For us in any event, she is already a saint. Both the poorest of the poor and the very rich of this country think the same way. Since the start of the centennial year, every parish in the diocese ends Mass with prayers for the Blessed’s sainthood." The faithful "have already begun to embrace the spirit of Mother Teresa," he added. "They visit the elderly and the sick, volunteering at the houses of the Missionaries of Charity. People of all faiths are full of love and respect for the example set by the Blessed. Everyone is taking part in the centennial. Exhibits include the participation of intellectuals and all the artists whose opinion we asked for said they were enthusiastic about the project. For them, Mother Teresa is close to God. The same is true for the movies; everyone is waiting for the event (the film festival)."

The Catholic Association is organising these events in cooperation with the Archdiocese of Kolkata and the Missionaries of Charity. The organising committee includes Archbishop Lucas Sirkar, Mother Prema (superior of the order founded by Mother Teresa), a few nuns from the Council of the Missionaries, the provincial father, three Jesuits, three Salesians and a few diocesan priests. Ten lay people are also members.

Celebrations will take place between 17 August and 13 September. The most important event will undoubtedly be the novena for the canonisation of the Blessed, which will be recited in every parish in the diocese during the centennial period.

On 26 August, Card Telesphore Toppo will celebrate Mass in the motherhouse of the order. On the same day, a film festival and an exhibit of paintings dedicated to the life of the Blessed will open. A symposium on her life is also in the work. Navin Chawla and Fr Brian Kolodiejchuk, postulator of her canonisation will speak at the event. The archdiocese has proclaimed 5 September, the day in which she was born in heaven, a day of celebration, which will end in a Mass in the courtyard of Saint Francis Xavier College.