India to Mint Mother Teresa Centenary Coin

New Delhi (16 July) -- Federal Home Minister P. Chidambaram is to introduce a Mother Teresa commemorative coin to mark the nun's birth centenary next month, a Church official said.

"We thank the government for its noble gesture," said Father Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.

Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil would officially introduce the coin during a celebration of the centenary in New Delhi on Aug. 28, he said.

This is part of a series of programs the Church and civil society is jointly organizing to observe the birth centenary of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, popularly known as Mother Teresa.

The nuns of Missionaries of Charity congregation, which Blessed Teresa founded, will be part of the celebrations.

The coins would reach New Delhi only few days before the event, said senior officer A.K. Ajmani in the Coin and Currency department of the Finance Ministry

The official gave no details about the design of the coin, which was approved by Sister Prema, head of the Missionaries of Charity.

Father Joseph said the coin "shows the kind of recognition and affection Indians have for Mother Teresa, who became an icon of charity in the country."

Mother Teresa, born on Aug. 26, 1910, arrived in Kolkata in 1929 as a Loreto nun.

She began her mission among "the poorest of the poor" in the slums of Kolkata and launched the Missionaries of Charity congregation in 1949. She died on Sept. 5, 1997. (UCANews)