Church men, celebrities join Mother Teresa sainthood lobby

 By: C.M. Paul 

Guwahati: A signature campaign which started on www.change.org petitioning Pope Francis to declare Mother Teresa a saint when he visits Albania on September 21 crossed 1,000 mark on July 12.

“Our petition is gaining momentum; we now have over 1,000 supporters,” wrote Dr Gëzim Alpion, who launched the campaign mid June.

The professor of the UK-based Birmingham University and author of Albanian-born Mother Teresa mentions a bishop in Albania and an Indian film actress who have endorsed the campaign.

Alpion makes a special mention of Dominican Bishop George Anthony Frendo, Auxiliary Bishop of Tiranë-Durrës, who signed the petition at its early stage.

He also expressed “a huge thank you to the renowned Indian [Malayalam] actress Miss Archana Kavi for signing the petition and for repeatedly encouraging her numerous fans through Facebook and Twitter to support the campaign.”

Alpion also lists several media partners in India, Australia, Canada, USA and U.K. who actively back the campaign, writing, “I would like to thank friends and colleagues who have worked tirelessly to spread the word.”

Revealing the categories of the signatories Alpion writes, “I am impressed to see that the petition has been signed by people of all faiths hailing from over 40 countries.”

Clearing a possible misunderstanding from Church people, Alpion writes: “I am particularly grateful to the priests and nuns of various orders whose support indicates clearly that they are convinced that this is not a petition against the Vatican but a modest attempt in good faith to encourage Mother Teresa’s supporters in the Holy See to keep on lobbying for her canonization.”

“Matters India” asked Professor Alpion when he intends to hand in the petition to the Vatican. In his words, “the petition will continue after the Pope’s visit to Albania this autumn. I would not be surprised if by the end of the year the campaign has some 5,000 supporters. That would be fantastic.”

mattersindia.com