India's Odisha state inaugurates "Saint Mother Teresa Road"

Eastern India’s Odisha state, that was the theatre of one of the most atrocious anti-Christian violence in the nation’s history, commemorated the sainthood of Mother Teresa of Calcutta on Sunday by naming a new road after her in the state capital, Bhubaneshwar.  Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik on Sept. 4 inaugurated the Satyanagar Flyover Road that connects Janpath Road with Cuttack-Puri Road, renaming it Saint Mother Teresa Road.  On August 28, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had declared to re-name the road at the request of the Odisha Bishops' Regional Council (OBRC) chairman Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar on behalf of Missionaries of Charity. 

Inaugurating the road, Patnaik paid tribute to the new saint saying, “All through her life, Mother Teresa has served the unserved. She was the quintessence of compassion.”  In the latest book on her, entitled, “Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light,” the new saint is said to have said, “If I ever become a Saint, I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from Heaven–to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”  Quoting these lines, the Odisha chief minister said, “it is time for all of us to take a leaf from her book of compassion and service, and work for the poor and distressed.” He urged all to work for the dignity of every human being and every human being around us.  Arch. Barwa reported episodes in the life of the Saint of Calcutta, and defined her as the "the woman of the century."

Mother Teresa visited Bhubaneshwar for the first time in 1974. She later returned many times and the Missionaries of Charity now house the needy in 18 centres.