Thiruvananthapuram: A Malayali priest, Fr. Sebastian Vazhakala, international spiritual director of Lay Missionaries of Charity, would be at the centre of the canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa in Vatican on September 4. The mother, who died on September 5, 1997, will be canonised by Pope Francis a day before her 19th death anniversary. She was beatified in October 2003. Fr Vazhakala was with her from the time the mother started the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.
Fr Vazhakala would lead the Mass during the “feast for the poor and Missionaries of Charity family,” organised on September 1 as a prelude to the canonisation process. The day would also see a musical based on Mother Teresa’s life. Usha Uthup, a fan of Mother Teresa, will sing two songs in her honour, one in Bangla and the other in English. During the canonisation, there would be two other performances led by Malayalis. Raji Tharakan and team would perform Ranga Pooja, a programme based on Indian tradition as part of the feast. Another performance would be by a team led by Elizabeth Joy Velanji, who would evoke the chant ‘Asathoma Sathgamaya’ from Brihadaranyakopan-ishad.
Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Church, and Mar George Alencherry would be part of the Church delegation to the canonisation process. Auxiliary Bishop of Thiruvananthapuram Latin Catholic Diocese, who is in Va-tican to attend a programme for newly-consecrated bishops, would also attend the programme. Ministers Thomas Isaac and Mathew T. Thomas will represent the state at the ceremony. MPs Jose K. Mani, Anto Antony and K. V. Thomas, Supreme Court Judge Kurian Joseph and BJP leader Alphonse Kannamthanam will be part of the country’s official delegation to Vatican.
