Mother Teresa’s Birth Centenary Celebrations Begin

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KOLKATA, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- The 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s birthday was celebrated with much elan at the global Kolkata headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity on Thursday. The commencement of the celebrations was marked with a holy mass that was held in Mother House which witnessed the presence of around 1,000 priests, nuns as well as commoners who thronged the first floor chapel to be part of it. The entire ceremony was led by Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo of Ranchi who was present as the main celebrant while Archbishop Emeritus Henry D’Souza, Archbishop of Kolkata Lucas Sirkar, Bishop of Baruipur Salvadore Lobo turned out to be the concelebrants of the holy mass organized at the Mother House in Kolkata.

Apart from the 60 priest who were present to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Mother Teresa, the holy mass was also graced nuns of the Missionaries of Charity which included MoC superior-general Sister Prema as well as her predecessor Sister Nirmala. At the same time, the mass was also attended by Fr. Brian Kolodeijchuk, who was the postulator for cause of Mother Teresa’s sainthood. After the holy mass reached its conclusion, Sister Nirmala, Sister Prema and some of the other bishops and cardinals came to the courtyard of the Mother House from where they released balloons and pigeons which was symbolic of peace and humanity. A message by Pope Benedict XVI was also read out in the holy mass.

In a bid to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of Mother Teresa, a film festival has also been organized in Kolkata which was inaugurated by MoC superior-general Sister Prema while a memorial tram was flagged off by Sister Nirmala later in the day.