Mother Teresa

Miracle and beatification

Following Teresa's death in 1997, the Holy See began the process of beatification, the second step towards possible canonization, or sainthood. This process requires the documentation of a miracle performed from the intercession of Mother Teresa. In 2002, the Vatican recognized as a miracle the healing of a tumor in the abdomen of an Indian woman, Monica Besra, following the application of a locket containing Teresa's picture. Monica Besra said that a beam of light emanated from the picture, curing the cancerous tumor.

Related Topics:
1997 - Holy See - Beatification - Canonization - Sainthood - Miracle - Intercession - 2002 - Tumor

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Besra's husband initially said that the tumor was cured by later hospital treatment. According to Monica Besra in TIME Asia http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021021-364433,00.html, records of her treatment were removed by a member of the order from the hospital and are now with a nun. The doctors who treated Monica Besra denied the claims of a miracle healing and said that they had come under pressure from the Missionaries of Charity to acknowledge that the healing process was the result of a miracle.

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Besra's husband later withdrew his objections and attributed the healing to a miracle. A story in The Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying: "It was her miracle healing that cured my wife. Our situation was terrible and we didn't know what to do. Now my children are being educated with the help of the nuns and I have been able to buy a small piece of land. Everything has changed for the better." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/05/wteres05.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/05/ixworld.html

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The issue of the alleged miracle proved controversial in India around the time of Mother Teresa's beatification. http://www.southend.wayne.edu/days/2003/October/10202003/nation/india/india.html Teresa was formally beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 19, 2003 with the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. A second accepted miracle is required for her to proceed to canonization.

Related Topics:
Pope - John Paul II - October 19 - 2003

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