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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

No Royalty In Mother Teresa’s Cortege Procession Will Include Lepers, The Destitute, The Homeless

Patrice O'Shaughnessy New York Daily News

The procession that will follow Mother Teresa’s coffin to her dignitary-filled state funeral Saturday will be one of lepers, the destitute and the homeless - the most fitting collection of people to pay final tribute to the Saint of the Gutters.

“The people will be brought on open trucks, and the majority will be people who meant the most to Mother Teresa,” the Rev. Joseph Langford, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, said Thursday. “There will be no dignitaries in the procession.”

Langford contrasted the revered nun’s funeral with Princess Diana’s sendoff last Saturday.

“This is a beloved daughter of India … that has to be respected. She’s not a cult figure … she has visited with important people, but she has visited with the mighty and the lowly,” he said.

Langford also said the route the procession will take from St. Thomas Church to the Netaji Indoor Stadium has been lengthened to allow more people in Calcutta to pay their last respects. The government declared Saturday a holiday, also to give more people the opportunity to watch the funeral.

Meanwhile, the double line of people leading to the small beige church with a red spire where Mother Teresa lay in state snaked for several miles, with mourners clutching bouquets of sunflowers, carnations and lotuses.

Army troops and police kept people on the sidewalk. Some mourners shouted angrily, trying to keep their places in line. But as they shuffled closer to the church a hush fell over them.

By late afternoon, more than 60,000 people had filed past Mother Teresa’s body.

Mourners were moved along quickly - six people per second - as ushers paused only to let babies and small children touch the platform where she lay, in her blue and white sari, in a glass case.

A gold crucifix stood at her head, and her bare, worn feet were exposed.

Nuns from the Missionaries of Charity sang hymns and recited the Hail Mary. Some mourners clasped their hands and bowed their heads as they passed.

On a lawn behind the church, thousands of white flowers - Rajimiganbhas - spelled out Mother Teresa and formed an outline of her face.