VATICAN CITY, Sept 4: Pope Francis has declared Mother Teresa a saint, honoring the tiny nun who cared for the world's most destitute as an icon for a Catholic Church that goes to the peripheries to find poor, wounded souls.
Applause erupted in St. Peter's Square even before Francis finished pronouncing the rite of canonization at the start of the Mass in St. Peter's Square.
Infographics: World’s most famous nun
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.
Hundreds of Missionaries of Charity sisters in their trademark blue-trimmed saris had front-row seats at the Mass alongside 1,500 homeless people and 13 heads of state or government, including Queen Sofia of Spain.
