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Mother Teresa a Step Closer to Beatification
Aired October 01, 2002 - 14:49 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, Mother Teresa could be one step closer to becoming a saint.
The Vatican has recognized a miracle that she's believed to have performed, a key step in her beatification.
Now the woman who claims that she benefited from Mother Teresa's miracle is speaking out.
New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Monica Besra believes in the power of prayer. She's convinced praying to Mother Teresa cured her from cancer, after her own doctors gave up.
So now, she's saying a prayer of thanks by Mother Teresa's simple grave.
MONICA BESRA, HEALED PATIENT (through interpreter): I had a tumor in my stomach which was growing every day. People thought I was pregnant.
BINDRA: Besra's doctors confirm her tumor was the size of a 7- month-old fetus.
DR. R.N. BHATTACHARYA, BESRA's PHYSICIAN: I told her if she was not going to have operate it soon, she may probably die in the bed.
BINDRA: But Besra's doctors said they couldn't operate because she was too weak to survive surgery. They decided to wait, unsure if she would pull through.
By this time, Besra herself had given up hope, agreeing as a last measure to go to a home run by Mother Teresa's order, the Missionaries of Charity.
On September 5, 1998, the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's death, the missionaries took Besra to a church to see if prayers could heal.
BESRA: As soon as I stepped into the church, there was a photograph of Mother Teresa, and there was a light from the photograph that came towards me and I was stunned.
Later, the sisters prayed for me and I went to sleep. When I got up, at 1:00 in the morning, I found the big tumor disappeared.
BINDRA: Besra's sudden and complete recovery stunned her doctors, who insist she was accurately diagnosed, undergoing several scans and tests.
After her recovery, her perplexed doctors also repeatedly examined her for signs of surgery. But found nothing.
BHATTACHARYA: Medically, OK. I'm a man of medical science. But to me, I did not find any other reason that without any operation, the tumor of such size would disappear overnight or within two or three days there would be complete recovery.
BINDRA: Dr. Bhattacharya has been practicing medicine for 26 years. He's convinced what he saw was a miracle.
BHATTACHARYA: It's difficult to describe when -- how I felt with this whole event.
But this is one of the very wonderful experience I ever had in my medical career.
BINDRA: The church, for its part, ordered an inquiry that's taken more than three years and could ultimately culminate in declaring Mother Teresa a saint.
In Mother Teresa's case, the church was willing to bend the own rules. Waiving a normal five-year wait after death to begin the process of beatification. If they fast track to sainthood, and her biggest supporter inside the church is believed to be the Pope himself, who wants her lifelong message of love and kindness to the poor to inspire people across all faiths.
Meanwhile, Monica Besra continues praying. This time, not for herself, but so Mother Teresa can be declared a saint.
BESRA: I remember Mother all the time. She cured me from all the suffering I had.
BINDRA: Besra says she understands millions remain skeptical about miracles. Her only advice: wait until it happens to you.
Satinder Bindra, CNN, Calcutta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 October 1, 2002 - 14:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, Mother Teresa could be one step closer to becoming a saint.
The Vatican has recognized a miracle that she's believed to have performed, a key step in her beatification.
Now the woman who claims that she benefited from Mother Teresa's miracle is speaking out.
New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Monica Besra believes in the power of prayer. She's convinced praying to Mother Teresa cured her from cancer, after her own doctors gave up.
So now, she's saying a prayer of thanks by Mother Teresa's simple grave.
MONICA BESRA, HEALED PATIENT (through interpreter): I had a tumor in my stomach which was growing every day. People thought I was pregnant.
BINDRA: Besra's doctors confirm her tumor was the size of a 7- month-old fetus.
DR. R.N. BHATTACHARYA, BESRA's PHYSICIAN: I told her if she was not going to have operate it soon, she may probably die in the bed.
BINDRA: But Besra's doctors said they couldn't operate because she was too weak to survive surgery. They decided to wait, unsure if she would pull through.
By this time, Besra herself had given up hope, agreeing as a last measure to go to a home run by Mother Teresa's order, the Missionaries of Charity.
On September 5, 1998, the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's death, the missionaries took Besra to a church to see if prayers could heal.
BESRA: As soon as I stepped into the church, there was a photograph of Mother Teresa, and there was a light from the photograph that came towards me and I was stunned.
Later, the sisters prayed for me and I went to sleep. When I got up, at 1:00 in the morning, I found the big tumor disappeared.
BINDRA: Besra's sudden and complete recovery stunned her doctors, who insist she was accurately diagnosed, undergoing several scans and tests.
After her recovery, her perplexed doctors also repeatedly examined her for signs of surgery. But found nothing.
BHATTACHARYA: Medically, OK. I'm a man of medical science. But to me, I did not find any other reason that without any operation, the tumor of such size would disappear overnight or within two or three days there would be complete recovery.
BINDRA: Dr. Bhattacharya has been practicing medicine for 26 years. He's convinced what he saw was a miracle.
BHATTACHARYA: It's difficult to describe when -- how I felt with this whole event.
But this is one of the very wonderful experience I ever had in my medical career.
BINDRA: The church, for its part, ordered an inquiry that's taken more than three years and could ultimately culminate in declaring Mother Teresa a saint.
In Mother Teresa's case, the church was willing to bend the own rules. Waiving a normal five-year wait after death to begin the process of beatification. If they fast track to sainthood, and her biggest supporter inside the church is believed to be the Pope himself, who wants her lifelong message of love and kindness to the poor to inspire people across all faiths.
Meanwhile, Monica Besra continues praying. This time, not for herself, but so Mother Teresa can be declared a saint.
BESRA: I remember Mother all the time. She cured me from all the suffering I had.
BINDRA: Besra says she understands millions remain skeptical about miracles. Her only advice: wait until it happens to you.
Satinder Bindra, CNN, Calcutta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
