Mother Teresa declared as co-patron of Archdiocese of Calcutta

Saint Teresa, also known as Mother Teresa, was on 6 September 2017 declared the as the co-patron of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta, 131 years after St Francis Xavier was declared as first patron.

The declaration was made by Vicar General, Archdiocese of Calcutta in the presence of the Vatican's ambassador to India Giambattista Diquattro, bishops from across the state and nuns of the Missionaries of Charity which was founded by Mother Teresa in 1950 within Archdiocese of Calcutta.

The decision was taken to commemorate the first anniversary of St Teresa's canonisation which was held on 4 September 2016.

A statue of St Teresa was also unveiled on the occasion.

Comment
Every diocese in the world has a patron. St Francis Xavier was declared as the first patron when the Archdiocese of Calcutta was established in 1886. The patron mediates for the people with god when they pray to him.

The practice of selecting patron saints dates back to the building of first public churches in the Roman Empire, most of which were built over graves of martyrs. The churches were then named after their martyr and the martyr acted as an intercessor for the worshippers.

Later, churches were dedicated to other holy men and women, saints who were not martyrs.