Pope John Paul II will approve at a Friday ceremony the miracle needed to beatify Mother Teresa, whose dedication to the destitute earned her a special place in the pontiff's heart.
Once the approval is announced by the Vatican, a date can be announced for Mother Teresa's beatification ceremony, expected to be held next spring. A second miracle then will be needed to declare Mother Teresa a saint.
The miracle attributed to the Roman Catholic nun's intercession and being approved Friday involves the recovery of a young Indian woman with a stomach tumor.
Her recovery, after an image of Mother Teresa was placed on her stomach, was judged to be without any medical explanation by a panel of doctors consulted by the Vatican.
The miracle was reported this fall by a Vatican committee and — although challenged as fake by Indian rationalists and doctors who treated the girl — will be formally seconded by the pope, who also will praise Mother Teresa's heroic virtue during Friday's ceremony in the Apostolic Palace.
As a sign of his affection and admiration for Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 at age 87, the pope waived the customary five-year waiting period to begin procedures that can lead to sainthood, or canonization.
Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia. In 1949, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in India.
Tiny and frail, she cared for Calcutta's impoverished and sick, toiling daily and for long hours even when she was elderly and ailing herself. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
Her order has opened places to provide comfort and care for the needy. The order was notified of Friday's ceremony by the Vatican.
John Paul has stressed saint-making in his papacy as a way of giving the faithful models of Catholics whose lives reflect their beliefs in goodness and courage.