Road In Bhubaneswar To be Named After Mother Teresa

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to name a road in Bhubaneswar after Mother Teresa.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will dedicate the road on Sunday. Pope Francis will officially declare Mother Teresa as a saint on September 4 in Vatican, Rome. She was one of the icons and legendaries for the humanitarian and philanthropic services who has given a new meaning to the dignity of humanity.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in its meeting on August 28 resolved to name a fly over the road from Satya Nagar to Cuttack-Puri Road as “Mother Teresa Road.” This was resolved at the request of Odisha Catholic Bishops’ Council (OCBC) chairman Archbishop John Barwa SVD of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.

He requested BMC to name the said road on behalf of Missionaries of Charity order to which Mother Teresa belonged to and Catholic Church in Odisha.

“We are grateful to Odisha government for naming the road after Mother Teresa. It is our tribute to Mother Teresa for her invaluable contribution to humanity through her service and charity. By naming the road, we all may remember the contribution of Mother Teresa and strive to serve the humanity in our way in life,” said Archbishop Barwa, head of Odisha Catholic Church.

In Odisha, Missionaries of Charity has 18 houses. Mother Teresa first visited Bhubaneswar in 1974 and met then Odisha Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy and the Odisha Governor Akbar Ali Khan. Since then, Mother Teresa had visited Odisha several times.

Inspired by God, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in order to take care of the poorest of the poor—the sick, the abandoned, the dying, leprosy and TB patients, mentally and physically challenged people, said Sister Mary Olivet, head of Missionaries of Charity in Odisha.

“Mother Teresa and her members take care of those who are a burden to the human society. Her unshakable trust in God made her take a vow of giving wholehearted and free service to the poorest poor, completely believing in God and His providence for all their needs,” Olivet added.

In Bhubaneswar, Missionaries of Charity have a home for the old, sick, abandoned women, tempera shelter for children, unwed mothers and women in distress. In Janla (near Khorda) it has the leprosy rehabilitation center.

In Odisha, Missionaries of Charity has nine homes for the sick, abandoned and elders; six homes for children and three centers for leprosy patients and four for mentally ill.