Washington shrine gets Mother Teresa’s statue

(Sept.22,2009): In the United States, the national Marian shrine in Washington has a new addition in its Hall of American Saints, it is a statue of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Near the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, stands a gleaming new white statue of a smiling Mother Teresa, holding a baby in one hand and the other hand placed lovingly on the head of a poor man crouched at her feet. The statue was the gift of an anonymous donor. It was made in Italy and the planning for it has been in the works for more than a year, according to the Rector of the Basilica - Mons. Walter Rossi.
A special dedication Mass was held Sept. 13 in the basilica’s upper church, followed by the dedication of the statue downstairs. Numerous members of the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Mother Teresa in Calcutta, attended the Mass. In his homily Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, who was the rector of the national shrine from 1986-2005 praised Mother Teresa’s work for the poorest of the poor and said she had a “phenomenal effect on so many in America.”