Pope Francis Declares Mother Teresa A Saint Before Crowds At Vatican

ROME (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Pope Francis has declared Mother Teresa a saint, honoring the tiny nun who cared for the world's most destitute as an icon for a Catholic Church that goes to the peripheries to find poor, wounded souls.

Applause erupted in St. Peter's Square even before Francis finished pronouncing the rite of canonization at the start of the Mass in St. Peter's Square.

For Francis, Mother Teresa put into action his ideal of the church as a merciful "field hospital" for the poorest of the poor, those suffering both material and spiritual poverty.

Hundreds of Missionaries of Charity sisters in their trademark blue-trimmed white saris had front-row seats at the Mass, alongside 1,500 homeless people and 13 heads of state or government and even royalty: Queen Sofia of Spain.

A special viewing screen was also set up in Battery Park, where members of the Albanian community gathered to watch the event, CBS2 reported.

Pope Francis has praised Mother Teresa as the merciful saint who defended the lives of the unborn, sick and abandoned -- and who shamed world leaders for the "crimes of poverty they themselves created."

Francis held St. Teresa up as a model for today's Christians during his homily for the nun who cared for the "poorest of the poor."

Speaking from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, Francis said St. Teresa spent her life "bowing down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity."

He added: "She made her voice heard before the powers of the world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crimes of poverty they themselves created." As if to emphasize the point, Francis repeated the "the crimes of poverty they themselves created."

Sanjay Sarkar, a local high school student, said it was a special day for the city.

He said: "Mother Teresa belonged to Kolkata and she has been declared a saint. I am so proud to be from Kolkata."

Deviating from his homily Sunday, Francis acknowledged it'll be hard for admirers to make the switch since Mother Teresa's saintliness is "so close to us."

As the crowd erupted in applause, he said: "So tender and rich that spontaneously we will continue to say Mother Teresa."

Some members of Mother Teresa's lay branch have marked her canonization by retracing the train ride she took to Darjeeling when she was inspired to found a new religious order.

The Sept. 10, 1946 journey is celebrated as "Inspiration Day" for the Missionaries of Charity, the day when Mother Teresa says she received a "call within the call" from Jesus.

The Rev. Peter Lingdam, head of the lay branch's Darjeeling branch, told the Press Trust of India: "We wished to experience what Mother Teresa must have felt during that time." He said that during the journey "her life's course changed forever."

Mother Teresa died in 1997.

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