Pope Sets September 4 Sainthood for Mother Teresa

An Indian Catholic woman offers prayers as she touches a portrait of Mother Teresa on her 17th death anniversary at the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India, Sept. 5, 2014.

Pope Francis announced Tuesday that Mother Teresa will be made a saint at a ceremony on September 4.

Mother Teresa was famed for her lifetime of service to the poor, establishing homeless shelters, orphanages, soup kitchens and clinics around the world.

The pope cleared the way for her sainthood in December when he approved a decree attributing a second miracle to her intercession. The Vatican credited her with the 2008 cure of a Brazilian man who had been suffering from brain tumors.

The first step toward making her a saint took place in 2002 when Mother Teresa was credited with the healing of a Bengali woman who suffered from tuberculosis and cancer.

The ethnic Albanian was born in 1910 and lived in India for much of her life, where she founded a religious congregation called the Missionaries of Charity. She died in India in 1997 a Nobel Peace Prize winner and beloved international figure.