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Pope says Mother Teresa to be made a saint on Sept. 4

FILE - In this Sunday, June 29, 1997 filer, of Pope John Paul II greets Mother Teresa of Calcutta as they meet in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4 2016. Pope Francis set the canonization date on Tuesday March 15, 2016, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side. (L'Osservatore Romano/FILE Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - In this Sunday, June 29, 1997 filer, of Pope John Paul II greets Mother Teresa of Calcutta as they meet in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4 2016. Pope Francis set the canonization date on Tuesday March 15, 2016, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side. (L'Osservatore Romano/FILE Pool Photo via AP) FILE - In this Sunday, June 29, 1997 filer, of Pope John Paul II greets Mother Teresa of Calcutta as they meet in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4 2016. Pope Francis set the canonization date on Tuesday March 15, 2016, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side. (L'Osservatore Romano/FILE Pool Photo via AP)

By Associated Press 2 min read

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4.

Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church’s merciful side.

The announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession – the final hurdle to make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death.

The ceremony will draw tens of thousands to honor the tiny, stooped nun who was fast-tracked for sainthood just a year after she died in 1997. St. John Paul II, who was Mother Teresa’s greatest champion, beatified her before a crowd of 300,000 in St. Peter’s Square in 2003.

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, Mother Teresa joined the Loreto order of nuns in 1928. In 1946, while traveling by train from Calcutta to Darjeeling, she was inspired to found the Missionaries of Charity order.