Missionaries of Charity nuns and others pray at Mother Teresa's tomb at the congregation's headquarters in Kolkata, eastern Indian on Aug. 26, the anniversary of the nun's birth. (Photo by Anne Nigli)
The Indian government will be sending a 11-member high-level delegation led by the federal foreign minister to attend the canonization of Mother Teresa at the Vatican, something that has never been done during the canonizations of other Indian saints.
The delegation, headed by Sushma Swaraj who heads one of the senior-most offices in the Cabinet, will include other ministers and parliamentarians as well as Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.
Apart from this, two state-level delegations from Delhi and West Bengal and led by their chief ministers will also be attending the Vatican ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio address to the nation Aug. 28 paid tribute to Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, saying that despite not being born an Indian, she devoted her whole life serving Indians.
"Mother Teresa devoted her whole life serving the poor and destitute people in India. When such a person is conferred with sainthood, it is natural for Indians to feel proud," he said.
Bishop Mascarenhas told ucanews.com that the government's move to invite him to be a part of the official government delegation is a recognition of the bishops' conferences as an official voice of the Catholic Church in India.
"It is an honor to be part of the government delegation. We look forward to work with the government closely on issues concerning the church and Christians in India. It is a very positive development," he said.
This is the first time that such a high-level delegation is traveling to the Vatican to attend the canonization ceremony of an Indian saint.
In 2014, Blessed Father Chavara Elias Kuriakose (1805-1871) and Blessed Sister Euphraisa of Sacred Heart of Jesus (1877-1952), both from Kerala state in southern India were canonized by Pope Francis at the Vatican. Only a state-level delegation led by a Kerala minister attended the ceremony.
The Indian postal department will also release a special silk postal cover — a first of its kind — on Sept. 1, just three days ahead of Mother Teresa's canonization on Sept. 4. The entire postal cover made of silk will also include a five-rupee coin of Mother Teresa minted by the Indian government in 2010.
However, there were some voices in India that see the canonization of Mother Teresa as a trigger for more conversions.
Surendra Jain, international joint general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (world Hindu council) said the prime minister should have considered the conversion aspect before deciding to send a delegation to the Vatican.
"The canonization of Mother Teresa is an alarm bell that now there would be more conversions in India and more funds (for conversions) would be routed to India," Jain was quoted by the Indian news agency IANS.
Mother Teresa was born in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia. She came to India in 1929 as a novice with the Loreto nuns. She left the congregation in the late 1940s and started the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.
Mother Teresa died of cardiac arrest at the congregation's motherhouse in Kolkata on Sept. 5, 1997, aged 87. Her canonization process began two years afterward.
Pope John Paul II beatified her in 2003. Pope Francis cleared the path to Mother Teresa's sainthood in December.