ASIA/INDIA - A road named after Mother Teresa inaugurated in Orissa

Monday, 5 September 2016 mother teresa   year of mercy   politics  

S.D.

Bhubaneswar (Agenzia Fides) - Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik officially inaugurated the road dedicated to Saint Mother Teresa on September 4, at 10.15 am (local time) in Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern Indian state.
The inauguration - the first in India – took place on the day Mother Teresa was proclaimed a saint by Pope Francis in the Vatican. The ceremony was attended by numerous civic and religious leaders, including Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, and Sister Mary Olivet, regional Superior of the Missionaries of Charity in Orissa, as well as thousands of faithful.
The event to name a road after Mother Teresa expresses the hope "that India will become a home to serve the poor, needy and oppressed", said the Prime Minister.
The government accepted the request of the Bishops' Council of Orissa who expressed joy and gratitude to the executive. On the occasion Archbishop Barwa, on behalf of the Bishops of Orissa, remarked that the order of Mother Teresa "was not to convert people, but - as she herself said - to make a Hindu a good Hindu, a Muslim a good Muslim and a Christian, a good Christian". "Mother Teresa gave back dignity to every human being, without distinction of caste or creed", he added.
Those present celebrated Mother Teresa as "person with a unique charisma", recalling the many epithets: "The angel of Calcutta", "Saint of the poor", "Voice of Compassion", "Consciousness of humanity", "Ambassador of charity", "Prophetess of peace".
Recently, the government of Orissa has asked the Missionaries of Charity to take care of women with mental disabilities and some homeless men. Currently about 90 of them are accommodated in four different houses of the missionaries in Orissa. In Orissa, the Missionaries of Charity have 18 houses. Mother Teresa visited Bhubaneswar for the first time in 1974 and then several other times. (SD-PA) (Agenzia Fides 05/09/2016)


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