JPII Shrine in DC, to host Mother Teresa and celebration of the Church in Africa

Things are busy this fall at the Washington, D.C.-based John Paul II Shrine, which will be hosting both a long-term exhibit on Saint Teresa of Calcutta and a one-day celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ecclesia in Africa, Pope Saint John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation on the Church in Africa.

“Mother Teresa: Life, Spirituality and Mission” is an exhibit that brings visitors through St. Teresa’s life, canonization, and legacy. It runs from Aug. 18 to early November, according to an emailed press release. The exhibit has previously been shown at various international locations.

“I already knew Mother Teresa; my father-in-law always talks about her,” Locquahn Tukerangi, a 29-year-old from New Zealand, said after seeing the exhibit in Rome. “But delving into her story here in Rome is an incredible experience.”

In addition to a wealth of material about Mother Teresa’s life, the exhibit features a first-class relic of the saint, which is available for veneration along with the shrine’s permanently installed relic of St. John Paul II’s blood.

“These two great saints were both ardent missionaries with extraordinary love and compassion for others,” said Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, director of Mother Teresa Center and postulator for Mother Teresa’s Cause for Canonization, according to the release. “They both brought the good news of the ‘surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus’ to all nations. Through the witness of their lives, we are urged to be tireless missionary disciples, to spread the light of God’s love to others, especially the poorest and the neediest.”

On Sept. 13, the Shrine will commemorate the 30th anniversary of Ecclesia in Africa, often called in English “on the Church in Africa and Its Evangelizing Mission Towards the Year 2000.”

The celebration, which begins at 11 a.m. with confessions and the Rosary, will include Mass, an exhibit, a keynote address by Father Michael Niba, and a panel on the importance and legacy of St. John Paul II’s work for the African Church. A full schedule can be found on the celebration’s EventBright page.

Bishop Michael Bibi of the Diocese of Buea, Republic of Cameroon, will be the principal celebrant of the Mass, according to a press release distributed via email.

“Saint John Paul II had great hopes for the Church of Africa in the Third Millenium, and his pontificate had a huge influence in the Church of Africa during the last thirty years,” said Sofia Maurette, the shrine’s director of Intercultural Ministry, according to the release. “We are excited to extend his prophetic vision with this celebration of the gifts that the Church in Africa continues to give to the global Church.”