India plans Mother Teresa centenary coin

(July 16, 2010) India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram is to introduce a Mother Teresa commemorative coin as part of the nun’s birth centenary celebrations next month. “We thank the government for its noble gesture,” said Father Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, CBCI. Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil is scheduled to officially introduce the coin during a celebration of the centenary in New Delhi on Aug. 28, he said. Blessed Mother Teresa was born on Aug. 26, 1910, and arrived in Kolkata in 1929 as a Loreto nun. She began her mission among “the poorest of the poor” in the slums of Kolkata and launched the Missionaries of Charity congregation in 1949. She died on Sept. 5, 1997. According to A.K. Ajmani, a senior officer in the Coin and Currency department of the Finance Ministry, the Mother Teresa coins would reach New Delhi only few days before the August 28 release. He gave no details about the design of the coin, which was approved by Sister Prema, the current head of the Missionaries of Charity. Father Joseph said the coin “shows the kind of recognition and affection Indians have for Mother Teresa, who became an icon of charity in the country. The Catholic Church and civil society is jointly organizing to observe the birth centenary of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, popularly known as Mother Teresa. The nuns of Missionaries of Charity congregation, are also part of the celebrations.