Evidence gathering for Mother Teresa's canonization to be completed by August

CALCUTTA, India -- An inquiry to gather evidence for declaring Mother Teresa a saint will be completed within three months, an archbishop said.

The Rev. Henry D'Souza, the archbishop of Calcutta, said he would preside over the closing session of the inquiry Aug. 15.

After receiving all the evidence, the Vatican normally takes two or three years to decide on canonization, D'Souza said. "But for Mother Teresa, the Vatican may take less time."

Mother Teresa, who was hailed during her decades in the slums of India as a "living saint," died in 1997 in Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, at age 87.

Pope John Paul II waived the customary five-year waiting period to start the process leading to her possible declaration as a saint.

Gathering proof within dioceses about Mother Teresa is a first step toward beatification, which requires confirmation of a miracle. Sainthood requires certification of another miracle.

A patient in Raiganj in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal claimed that a tumor disappeared after receiving blessings from Mother Teresa.

In another case, a French woman in the United States who broke several ribs in a car accident reportedly healed when she wore a Mother Teresa medallion around her neck. A Palestinian girl suffering from cancer says she was cured after Mother Teresa appeared in her dreams and said, "Child, you are cured."