As the church bells rang and the Missionaries of Charity nuns sang hymns, the Archbishop of Calcutta Thomas D’Souza declared Mother Teresa as the second patron of the Archdiocese of Calcutta in the presence of the Vatican’s ambassador to India, Giambattista Diquattro, at a solemn mass in the Cathedral of the Holy Rosary on Portuguese Church Street on Wednesday. St. Francis Xavier was declared the first patron when the Archdiocese of Calcutta was established in 1886. The Archdiocese of Calcutta issued a decree at Wednesday’s mass declaring Mother Teresa as co-patron.

“The Archdiocese of Calcutta… hereby declares that from 5th September, 2017, which marks the 20th anniversary of her going to the Father, and the first anniversary of her canonisation, St. Teresa of Calcutta as the co-patron of the Archdiocese of Calcutta,” the decree read. The vicar general of the archdiocese, Father Dominique Gomes, read out the decree.

Archbishop D’Souza, in his speech, explained the significance of declaring Mother the co-patron of the archdiocese.
“St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) was closely associated with the City of Joy. Mother was close to our hearts. We thank the Lord for gifting us Mother Teresa….

We have issued a decree that together with St. Francis Xavier we will also have Mother Teresa as the co-patron of Archdiocese of Calcutta,” the archbishop said. The people of Calcutta will now seek the intercession of Mother when they pray, he added.

Father Rodney Borneo of the archdiocese was the master of the ceremony.

Bishops of several Roman Catholic churches and sisters and brothers of Missionaries of Charity attended the mass.

Pictures by Pradip Sanyal