The U.S. bishops voted to inscribe St. Teresa of Kolkata, in the Liturgical Calendar of the United States meeting in Baltimore for their annual fall assembly on 17 November.
The bishops voted to include her feast day as an optional memorial that could be celebrated in the Mass on 5 September, the anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death.
The vote passed 213-0, with one abstention. The approval of the Vatican is still needs. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments should have to sanction before it takes effect.
“She is an incredible example of encounter. Some of her quotes I use frequently in teaching and homilies, and they’re very powerful and effective in moving the heart and helping people to recognize Christ, especially…in the poor, but also in those around them. So I think there’s a great devotion to her in many ways. And I think that we would be deeply served by putting this in our calendar,” said Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay said ahead of the vote.
Memorials can either be optional or obligatory for celebrating the days of saints. While Catholics can liturgically commemorate any canonized saint, it does not always mean the given saint is included in the Church’s universal calendar of optional or obligatory memorials.