Monday, September 06, 2010

Cathedral honouring Mother Teresa dedicated in Kosovo

A new cathedral honouring the deceased Catholic nun and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mother Teresa was dedicated in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, on Sunday.

The cathedral was funded by donations from Albanians.

Some 3,000 Catholics from the area and neighbouring countries were said to have attended the event, celebrated by Archbishop Zef Gashi, himself sent as a special representative by Pope Benedict XVI.

Final costs for the facility, which is not entirely completed yet, are expected to be in the neighbourhood of 1 million euros (1.28 million dollars). When completed, its towers will reach 70 metres into the sky.

The ceremony took place on what would have been the 100th birthday of the nun, who inspired many people around the world with her acts of charity.

The new building is designed to help Kosovo lay claim to Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 after spending most of her life helping the poor in Kolkata, India. But Macedonia and Albania also want to make clear their links to her.

Mother Teresa was born in Skopje, the capital of modern Macedonia. Her mother was an Albanian from modern Kosovo, while her father is believed to have been from southern Albania.

The nun herself once said: 'By blood and origin, I am Albanian. My citizenship is Indian. I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the whole world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the heart of Jesus.'

SIC: M&C/EU