Mother Teresa's funeral ends, body heads to grave
September 13, 1997
Web posted at: 4:19 a.m. EST (0919 GMT)
CALCUTTA, India (CNN) -- Mother Teresa's funeral service ended on Saturday with Indian army troops carrying her coffin from the Netaji stadium to Calcutta's Mother House, headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, where the nun known as "Saint of the Gutters" will be laid to rest.
"The Mother will now begin her last journey," an announcer in
the stadium said, as a military band played a funeral march and the 15,000 people in the stadium rose to their feet.
Military pallbearers lifted the open casket from a platform
in the center of the indoor stadium at the end of the three-hour funeral service.
A message at the funeral on behalf of Pope John Paul II praised Mother Teresa for showing love and compassion to the poor, while others debated how to prevent poverty and criticized her for not joining that debate.
The message, delivered by papal representative Cardinal Angelo Sodano, said Mother Teresa responded to those critics by saying, "I will kneel beside the poorest of the poor, ... they don't need discussion, they need love."
She "understood fully the gospel of love -- with every fiber of her indomitable spirit and every ounce of energy in her frail body crossing the frontiers of religious and ethnic differences," it said.
Correspondents Christiane Amanpour and Tom Mintier contributed to this report.
Details on the eulogies and the procession
Mother Teresa special section