Mother Teresa (Gonxhe Bojaxhiu), an honorary sister of the Catholic Church and a renowned humanist, was born in Skopje to the Bojaxhiu family from Prizren. She was baptized in the Cathedral of the Heart of Christ in Skopje and made the decision to become an honorary sister in 1928 in Letnica of Vitia, where she developed a deep admiration and devotion to the Saint of Our Lady. She entered the Institute of Our Lady of the River, also known as the “Sisters of Loreto,” in Ireland, where she took the name Sister Mary Theresa in honor of Saint Theresa of the Christ Child. In December of that year, she moved to India, specifically Calcutta, and in May 1931, she was assigned to the Loreto community in Entali, where she taught at “St. Mary” girls’ school. She served as a history and geography professor and later as headmistress, but she was continually drawn to work with the poor, sick, and abandoned. In 1950, the Vatican approved the establishment of the “Missionaries of Love,” through which Mother Teresa devoted herself to charity, humanity, and peace, spreading her mission worldwide. Following Calcutta, she opened houses in Rome, Tanzania, and later established missions on all continents, including nearly all communist countries during the 1980s and 1990s, such as the former Soviet Union, Albania, and Cuba. Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and upon receiving it, she stated, “In terms of blood and ancestry, I am Albanian. I am Indian by nationality. According to the vocation, I am a regular Catholic and belong to the whole world. My heart belongs to the heart of Jesus.” In 1990, she was declared an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of Kosovo, and she visited the region five times between the 1970s and 1990s. In 1993, she traveled to Albania with Pope John Paul II, and in 1997, she received the “Gold Medal of the American Congress” and was named an “Honorary Citizen” of America. As an iconic figure of the century, she earned the title “Holy Mother,” inspiring countless missionaries globally. The “Missionaries of Love” now operate dozens of houses with thousands of honorary sisters. Mother Teresa passed away at the age of 87 and was buried in Calcutta, India. Due to her widespread fame, Pope John Paul II later allowed the canonization process to begin. In an extraordinary event on October 19, 2003, in the Vatican, he proclaimed her Blessed, and on September 4, 2016, coinciding with the 19th anniversary of her death, Pope Francis declared her a saint. (In the photo: Saint Teresa)
Text: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. II , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 1184–1185.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%ABn%C3%AB_Tereza
Graphic processing: AHCF
