VATICAN cardinals and bishops have formally recognised as authentic a
miracle attributed to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Vatican sources said, making
it a formality that Pope John Paul II will grant her sainthood status.
The pontiff is expected to sign the decree recognising the miracle at a meeting
of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints in December, and announce a
date for the beatification of the Albanian-born "Saint of the
Gutters".
The beatification is likely to take place at the Vatican in spring next year, making Mother Teresa's journey to sainthood the shortest in history.
She died in September 1997 aged 87 after a life of service to the poor and dying earned her global recognition as well as the Nobel Peace Prize.
The miracle healing of an Indian woman's abdominal tumour which the congregation recognised at a meeting today is one of a number attributed to the intercession of the nun, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, now Macedonia, in 1910.
The congregation declared the healing "scientifically inexplicable", Vatican sources said.
A miracle is a prerequisite to being made a saint in the Catholic Church.
Mother Teresa set up the Missionaries of Charity order in Calcutta in 1950.