Mother Teresa to be made an official saint after Pope approves 'miracle', Vatican announces

Mother Teresa is to be made a saint Credit: Reuters

Mother Teresa will be made an official saint of the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican has announced.

Known as the "saint of the gutters", Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a Nobel peace prize-winner who dedicated her life to helping those in devastating poverty in India. She died in 1997 at the age of 87.

She will be canonised in September next year.

To become a saint, the Pope needs to formally approve that a miracle had been performed, attributed to one's relationship with God.

Mother Teresa with Pope John Paul II, after visiting the Casa del Cuore Puro, Mother Teresa's home for the destitute and dying in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata in 1986 Credit: Reuters

Pope Francis has now cleared the way for her sainthood, recognising an event where she is said to have inexplicably healed a man suffering from multiple brain tumours.

It is not yet known whether the ceremony will take place in Rome or India.