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Early years
Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born on August 26, 1910 in Uskup (Ottoman Empire)
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was the birth name of Teresa of Calcutta. She was the youngest daughter of a wealthy Albanian couple.
At the age of twelve, it was clear to her that she wanted to dedicate her life to Catholicism. With five he had already made First Communion and with six Confirmation. While still a child, she showed total admiration for the Yugoslav Jesuits in Bengal (India). -
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Beginnings in Calcutta
To fulfill her desire to be a missionary in India, she set sail for Bengal in 1928.
On January 6, 1929, she arrived in Calcutta. In the Bengali city she made her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. She became a nun on May 24, 1931. It was during this stage that she abandoned her birth name.
In 1946, the famine in much of the country was aggravated. Therefore, Teresa of Calcutta asked Pope Pius XII to abandon her order to dedicate herself body and soul to those most in need. -
Missionaries of Charity
Teresa of Calcutta obtained nationality in 1950. That same year, the Vatican authorized her to inaugurate her new congregation: Missionaries of Charity.
The congregation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta was not fully recognized until 1965 by Pope Paul VI. The mission of Missionaries of Charity was to help the most disadvantaged part of the population, providing them with food and shelter.
They took care of opening leprosariums, hospitals and orphanages. -
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Recognitions
The best known that was awarded to him in life was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
In 2003, Pope John Paul II took the first step to make the nun into a Saint.
However, that path ended in 2016, when Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa in a massive ceremony in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. Men and women from all over the world witnessed how the Albanian nun became Saint Teresa of Calcutta. -
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Last years and death
The last years of Mother Teresa of Calcutta were marked by trips to conflict zones to promote peace.
In 1983, she suffered a heart attack on one of her visits to Pope John Paul II in Rome. In 1989, he had a pacemaker implanted.
With her health visibly impaired by continuing problems, Teresa of Calcutta resigned from her post as head of the Missionaries of Charity in March 1997.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta passed away on September 5, 1997 in Calcutta, at the age of 87.
