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CNN Live At Daybreak

Pope to Credit Mother Teresa with Miracle

Aired December 20, 2002 - 06:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Mother Teresa may be about to come one step closer to becoming Saint Teresa. The Pope is expected to credit her with another miracle.
We head now to Rome and CNN's John Allen.

Tell us about it.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well it's official, the Pope this morning issued actually two decrees, one is a decree -- a so-called decree of heroic virtue, which basically means that Mother Teresa was a good and holy person, a role model for others, and a decree recognizing a miracle to her -- credited to her intercession. In this case, it's the healing of a young Hindu woman in India who was suffering from an abdominal tumor and then, without apparent scientific explanation, recovered after praying to Mother Teresa. So it's on the books that she is going to become what's called a Blessed, which is the last step before becoming a saint. We're still waiting at this hour to know exactly where and when, but we know it's going to happen.

COSTELLO: Tell us more about this miracle, because I understand this Hindu woman actually saw a bright light after placing a picture of Mother Teresa on her stomach.

ALLEN: Yes, that's right, and this is actually not uncontroversial. It's caused -- it's kicked up some dust in India because you know there are of course some very serious religious divisions on the Indian subcontinent these days. And there are some, particularly in the Hindu nationalist sectors of opinion in India, that resent the fact that a healing of a Hindu woman is now being attributed to a Christian saint and used as one of the key pieces of evidence in her beatification process.

And I think you know this of course reflects the deep tensions that exist in that part of the world. And I think it actually is in some ways part of the Vatican's interest in moving forward Mother Teresa's cause so quickly because she is someone who appealed across those religious divisions. I mean she's as popular in many ways with Hindus and with Muslims in India as she is with the Christians.

You know when she died in September of '97, in her funeral procession in Calcutta her body was carried on the same platform that had carried the body of Ghandi in Nairoo (ph), which is some indication of you know how much of a cultural phenomenon she was.

COSTELLO: Oh, and how beloved she was. One more miracle then she becomes a saint, correct?

ALLEN: Right.

COSTELLO: OK, thanks very much for the update.

ALLEN: Yes, that's right. And as of this morning, the clock is running. So we're waiting for -- it will take another miraculous healing of some sort. It will take a few months for all that to be documented, but I think you can bet that her -- the time period from her beatification to her canonization will probably be one of the shortest on record.

COSTELLO: I think so.

John Allen, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 20, 2002 - 06:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Mother Teresa may be about to come one step closer to becoming Saint Teresa. The Pope is expected to credit her with another miracle.
We head now to Rome and CNN's John Allen.

Tell us about it.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well it's official, the Pope this morning issued actually two decrees, one is a decree -- a so-called decree of heroic virtue, which basically means that Mother Teresa was a good and holy person, a role model for others, and a decree recognizing a miracle to her -- credited to her intercession. In this case, it's the healing of a young Hindu woman in India who was suffering from an abdominal tumor and then, without apparent scientific explanation, recovered after praying to Mother Teresa. So it's on the books that she is going to become what's called a Blessed, which is the last step before becoming a saint. We're still waiting at this hour to know exactly where and when, but we know it's going to happen.

COSTELLO: Tell us more about this miracle, because I understand this Hindu woman actually saw a bright light after placing a picture of Mother Teresa on her stomach.

ALLEN: Yes, that's right, and this is actually not uncontroversial. It's caused -- it's kicked up some dust in India because you know there are of course some very serious religious divisions on the Indian subcontinent these days. And there are some, particularly in the Hindu nationalist sectors of opinion in India, that resent the fact that a healing of a Hindu woman is now being attributed to a Christian saint and used as one of the key pieces of evidence in her beatification process.

And I think you know this of course reflects the deep tensions that exist in that part of the world. And I think it actually is in some ways part of the Vatican's interest in moving forward Mother Teresa's cause so quickly because she is someone who appealed across those religious divisions. I mean she's as popular in many ways with Hindus and with Muslims in India as she is with the Christians.

You know when she died in September of '97, in her funeral procession in Calcutta her body was carried on the same platform that had carried the body of Ghandi in Nairoo (ph), which is some indication of you know how much of a cultural phenomenon she was.

COSTELLO: Oh, and how beloved she was. One more miracle then she becomes a saint, correct?

ALLEN: Right.

COSTELLO: OK, thanks very much for the update.

ALLEN: Yes, that's right. And as of this morning, the clock is running. So we're waiting for -- it will take another miraculous healing of some sort. It will take a few months for all that to be documented, but I think you can bet that her -- the time period from her beatification to her canonization will probably be one of the shortest on record.

COSTELLO: I think so.

John Allen, thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com