2013-10-05 19:37:21

Mother Teresa finds prominence among Balkans


Skopje, Macedonia, 05 October 2013: Blessed Teresa of Kolkata is all set to come alive in her home town. The prime minister of Macedonia has decided to name Balkan region's longest and most important highway after the founder of Missionaries of Charity.

As part of the government's plan to familiarize people of the entire region with Mother Teresa - who was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje on August 26, 1910 with her family being of Albanian descent, Bronze plaques with her teaching are being drilled into prominent buildings and busy side walks across town.

The government is also giving thought to a proposal whether Mother Teresa's picture can be put on the currency note. A massive 60 feet statue of the greatest humanitarian of modern times is also coming up in one of the city's main boulevards, thanks to Sahara chief Subrata Roy.

Roy who has known Mother Teresa since the 1990s has set plans rolling to construct an entire square in the Macedonian capital with a gigantic statue of her in the middle of it. Roy envisages making Skopje a "mecca for all Mother Teresa followers" who are keen to trace back her life, starting from the house she was born.

Roy is also building a massive home for the destitute that would accommodate 300 sick, needy and the downtrodden in Skopje. According to Roy, the present head of the Missionaries of Charity will be invited to take a look at the new home meant for those Mother Teresa cared for most.

In an exclusive interview to TOI, prime minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski said, "We are engraving some of Mother Teresa's best quotes and teaching in bronze plaques and setting them up in busy streets and prominent buildings so that everyone passing by can learn something from them every day. We have already installed 17 such plaques across Skopje and in the next one month will install 22 more. We will do the same in other cities of Macedonia."

Mr Gruevski added to TOI, "One of the region's most important highways - as long as about 300 kms is being named after Mother Teresa. It connects Bulgaria to Skopje and stretches further top connect with Albania. Some part of it already exists, the rest we are constructing which should end by 2017. We have named Macedonia's most advanced and primary health clinic after Mother Teresa. We already have a memorial house after her. Mother Teresa will become the new symbol of Macedonia. Her followers come from across the world and everyone knows her, even in Middle Eastern countries."

According to the Nobel Institute that awarded Mother Teresa the Nobel peace prize, Mother Teresa felt a strong calling from God at the age of 12 and knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of 18, she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India.

A small monument presently stands near the place where her parents' house was - a square called Makedonija.Source: TOI








All the contents on this site are copyrighted ©.