The memory of the saint from Calcutta at the heart of a gesture the pontiff will make tomorrow to mark the Pope's 86th birthday: with the Missionaries of Charity he will deliver a token of gratitude to three people - a Syrian Franciscan, a homeless man and an Italian industrialist - who dedicate their lives to helping the least. Mother Teresa's sisters: "We are delighted that he has chosen our home and our Mother".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis turns 86 on Dec. 17 and has chosen to live this year's birthday in the sign of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. In the presence of the Missionaries of Charity - the order of nuns wearing the white and blue sari founded by her - and 20 people housed in their dormitories in Rome, he will hand over a gift, "Mother Teresa's caress for the world's poor," a small sculpture meant to be a sign of gratitude to three people who, in different life situations, care for the least.
The award - sponsored by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Service of Charity - will go to Fr. Hanna Jallouf, a Franciscan, who spends himself for the poor in war-torn Syria; to Gian Piero, known as Wué, a homeless man who every day allocates a portion of the donations he collects to help people poorer than himself; and to Silvano Pedrollo, an Italian industrialist from Verona, who uses a considerable portion of his company's profits to assist and help the poorest in various nations in Africa, India and Latin America, building schools, wells and health facilities.
The gesture is meant to commemorate twenty-five years since the passing of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her message about caring for "those no one wants," which even today more than 6,000 Missionaries of Charity continue to keep alive in as many as 762 Houses of Charity, in 139 countries around the world.
The "flower of gratitude" that the pope will deliver on his birthday is a small globe, set inside a cube that holds it up, a symbol of the love that holds the world. Painted in the globe is a window behind which Mother Teresa can be glimpsed hugging and caressing a child. It is meant to recall some words spoken by John Paul II in 1997 on the occasion of the founding of the Missionaries of Charity: "Mother Teresa was an open window from which Jesus looked out and smiled and gave comfort and dignity to so many poor people in so many parts of the world."
From their headquarter in Calcutta, the Missionaries of Charity - commenting on the initiative - sent this message of good wishes to Pope Francis: "We are delighted that he has chosen our home and our Mother, St. Teresa of Calcutta’s caress of the poor as the model for the recipients of the award. Mother has been a true Missionary of Charity, a carrier of God’s love, setting all on fire with love for Him and for one another, a healing touch of God that cures all diseases, a soothing smile of God that warms all hearts, God’s own language of love that all hearts understand. We assure our beloved Holy Father of our prayers for all his intentions especially for the suffering people in the world for whom he is deeply concerned".
(Nirmala Carvalho cooperated)