Bl. Mother Teresa honoured in West Bengal

Tues.26 June 2007). Berhampore City in Eastern India’s West Bengal State honoured Mother Teresa with the unveiling of her statue at a civic function held June 25 in the presence of the entire civil administration. Murshidabad District Magistrate Subir Kumar Bhadra along with Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of Kolkata, Bishop Joseph Gomes of Krishnagar , Church of North India Bishop Brojen Malakar of Barrackpore and Kolkata Salesian Provincial Fr John Berger, as well as several civic leaders took part in the ceremony. The statue by a well known local artist, Kanchan Karmakar, was placed at the intersection of two roads that link the District Magistrate’s Office and Administration.
“I wanted someone worthy of people’s love in front of DM’s Office,” said former District Magistrate Manjunatha Prasad who launched the project. “It is the tribute of the people of Berhampore to Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who visited us on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Don Bosco’s death in 1988. We honour her with a statue on the golden jubilee of the Don Bosco Society Murshidabad,” said the coordinator of the Mother Teresa events Fr K. K. Sebastian, parish priest at Berhampore’s Catholic Church. A four-day ‘Mother Teresa International Film Festival’ will also be held at Berhampore Town Hall June 27-30 to mark the occasion. It will open with the one and only feature film dedicated to Mother Teresa. Made by Dominique Lapierre, who admired Mother Teresa, it was 15 years in the making. Titled “In the Name of God’s Poor”, it stars Charlie Chaplain’s daughter Geraldine in the role of Mother Teresa.