St Teresa praised for charitable works in Kenya

Saint Teresa of Kolkata had made numerous efforts to fight poverty through outreach that did and still continues to benefit Kenyans, 19 years after her death.

Fr Vittorio Filletti, a senior priest at Mlango Kubwa in Pangani, Nairobi, says that Mother Teresa’s simple acts of kindness had secured her a spot in heaven.

She is the face behind centres in Otiende, Langata, where street children are rescued and educated.

Saint Teresa visited Kenya in 1983 and met Cardinal Otunga, an icon in his own right among the Roman Catholics in Kenya.

They launched a centre in Huruma that has seen several poor children and homeless women benefit from a programme of sustainability before being integrated back into the society.

She also built charity homes at Kasarani and Kibera, which targeted the slum-dwellers and impacted them through provision of food, rehabilitation of drug addicts, provision of education as well as training to vulnerable youth for sustainability.

Saint Teresa formed a global network of charity homes, which became safe havens for the destitute, ranging from the elderly, the disabled, the sick to abandoned babies.

“To us, she was already a saint even before her death. She embodied all the virtues of a saint: faith, hope and charity,” says Fr Filletti, adding: “She was the embodiment of kindness and love expected of every Christian in the world.”

Saint Teresa was canonised in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Sunday at a mass that attracted 100,000 pilgrims.

After the mass, Pope Francis led 1,500 poor people who had attended the Mass in serving a giant pizza that was served by 250 nuns and 50 male members of Mother Teresa’s order.

The ceremony came a day before the 19th anniversary of Teresa’s death in Kolkata, the Indian city where she spent nearly four decades tending to the poor.