Missionaries of Charity mark Mother Teresa’s 15^th death anniversary and feast day

(Sept. 05, 2012) Special prayers were held at the Missionaries of Charity headquarters in eastern India’s Kolkata city on Wednesday to mark Mother Teresa`s 15th death anniversary and floral tributes were offered at her grave. The feast of Mother Teresa also falls on the same day. Sr. Prema, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity said we are celebrating the Feast Day and the going home of Mother to Jesus. "Today we keep the Feast Day for Mother Teresa when the church declared her blessed and we are celebrating this joy together with all our Missionaries of charity family. It is also the 15th death anniversary of the going home of Mother to Jesus, as she called it, when she spoke about death," added Sister Prema. After the beatification of Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic Church had declared September 5, the day Mother left her earthly abode, as her Feast Day - a day for joy and celebration.
In Mumbai, Dr. Pascoal Carvalho, a member of Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life said “On the feast of Mother Teresa of Kolkata on Wednesday her spirit "compels us to fight against sex-selective abortion, female infanticide and feticide". He invited people to reflect on what he calls "the malaise of Indian society," a growing phenomenon that is likely to alter the composition of the population of the country. Dr. Carvalho said that in India and in the world, Mother Teresa is respected for her love for every human being, and for her defence of the dignity and sanctity of life from conception to natural death. For this reason, he said, the anniversary of the death of Blessed Mother Teresa and Her feast - is the best time to rethink the fight against everything that promotes "a culture of death." According to the latest government census of 2011, an average of 914 girls are born for every 1000 males. Therefore it is alarming, that despite the government's recent promotion of several measures and awareness campaigns on the issue, the imbalance between males and females has increased. Dr. Carvalho said "This disturbing phenomena is partly related to cultural reasons- a patriarchal society that has always preferred a son and not a female child for economic reasons.