Official logo of Mother Teresa's canonization created in Mumbai
by Nirmala Carvalho

Created by Karen nee D'Lima Vaswani, a Catholic from the parish of Our Lady of Victories in Mahim. She never personally met Mother Teresa, but it is full of admiration for her work. Sister Prema, the superior of the Missionaries of Charity, and Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, the postulator of the cause of canonization, have decided to adopt the logo for international use. Before, during and after creating the logo, Karen thanked and prayed to God.


Mumbai (AsiaNews) - A graphic designer from Mahim, a Mumbai neighborhood has created the official logo of the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which will take place at the Vatican next September 4th.

KarenVaswani nee D'Lima is a Roman Catholic from the parish of Our Lady of Victories in Mahim. She started her carrier as a graphic designer 21 years ago and in addition to her professional work, puts her talents at the service of many parishes in the city, everything "for the Glory of God," according to the spirit of Mother Teresa.

"I never met Mother Teresa in person - she told AsiaNews - but I always admired her work and was often involved in charity work, lending my professional experience".

The woman is married to Sindhi Ishwar Vaswani (Ishwar means "God"); they have a teenage daughter named Kimaya ( "Divine" in Sanskrit).

Speaking to AsiaNews, Karen explained "The Archdiocese of Calcutta has contacted me and asked me to design the logo for the celebrations of the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Sister Prema, the superior general of the Missionaries of Charity and Fr Brian Kolodiejchuk, the postulator, loved it, so they decided to adopt it for international use. I am very excited and full of gratitude for that".

Karen took three days to create the logo of Mother Teresa. "The theme given by the Vatican – she explains - was ''Carrier of Gods tender and merciful love”. So I decided to work on a classic pose of Mother Teresa, where she holds a baby in her arms with loving kindness".

"I preferred to use very simple style of graphics and only two colors, so all media at all levels, can use it with ease", she added.

Karen reveals that she prayed before, during and after work: "First of all, I thanked God for giving me this opportunity; then I prayed for the grace and guidance to create a logo that was simple and powerful, which speaks for itself".