Pope Francis Declared Mother Teresa Saint At Vatican Ceremony

Pope Francis has declared Mother Teresa a saint as part of his Holy Year of Mercy. Applause erupted in St. Peter's Square even before he finished pronouncing the rite of canonization at the start of the Mass.

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.

Pope Francis's predecessor Pope John Paul II bent Vatican rules to fast-track Mother Teresa to sainthood - a process which usually does not start until five years after the candidate's death - two years after she died in 1997.

Since her death, two alleged miracles have been attributed to Mother Teresa, paving the way for her classification as a saint.

In 2002, the Vatican ruled that an Indian woman’s stomach tumour had been miraculously cured after she prayed to Mother Teresa, leading to her beatification - the first stage towards sainthood - in 2003.

Pope Francis attributed a second miracle to her after a man with a bacterial infection in his brain purportedly recovered after praying to Mother Teresa.

Despite being widely revered as one of the holiest women of the 20th century, Mother Teresa's legacy has been called into question by several critics.