Pope Francis declared Mother Teresa a saint on Sunday, honoring the tiny nun who cared for the world's most destitute and holding her up as a model for a Catholic Church that goes to the peripheries to find lost, wounded souls.
Applause erupted in St. Peter's Square even before Francis finished pronouncing the rite of canonisation at the start of Mass, evidence of the admiration Mother Teresa enjoyed from Christians and non-Christians alike.
For Francis, Mother Teresa put into action his ideal of the church as a merciful "field hospital" for the poorest of the poor, those suffering both material and spiritual poverty.
By canonising her during his Jubilee Year of Mercy, he in some ways is making her the icon of his entire pontificate. — Associated Press
