Mother Teresa was beatified 23 years ago, on October 19, 2003, by Pope John Paul II.

The Albanian humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate became a symbol of compassion and respect for the poorest, to whom she devoted her life. Her beatification ceremony was held in May 2011 at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Around 500,000 people from across the world attended, including a large number of Albanians.

Years later, on September 4, 2016, Pope Francis canonized her, giving her the name Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

Mother Teresa, whose birth name was Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, then part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. At the age of 18, she left what is now North Macedonia for Ireland and later moved to India, where she spent most of her life.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation that had more than 4,500 sisters and operated in over 133 countries by 2012. The saint spoke five languages fluently: Bengali, Albanian, Serbian, English and Hindi.

In 1991, she returned to Albania for the first time and opened a Missionaries of Charity house in Tirana. By 1996, her congregation had established 517 missions in more than 100 countries.

In 2003, Tirana International Airport in Albania was named after Mother Teresa. Four years later, authorities unveiled a bust of her at the airport entrance.

In recognition of her life and humanitarian work, Mother Teresa’s name has also been commemorated through state honors.

The Mother Teresa Decoration is an honorary award of the Republic of Albania. It recognizes Albanian and foreign citizens for outstanding acts of humanitarianism in service to the Albanian nation and humanity. The gold decoration is awarded by decree of the President of Albania.