10 March 2008 | An exhibition of postage stamps, seals and maps with the image of Mother Teresa that were issued in Macedonia, Albania, India, Italy and other countries opens in the Macedonian capital Skopje today.

The philatelic exhibition commemorates March 8 – International Women’s Day, as well as the eightieth anniversary since Mother Teresa left from Skopje to Calcutta, the Macedonian newspaper Vecher reported.

Mother Teresa was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu to an Albanian family in 1910 in Skopje. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in India, where she ministered over 40 years. In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work and, following her death in 1997, was beatified – a step before being canonised as a saint, and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

According to Vecher, the exhibition was to be opened by Esma Redžepova – the famous Macedonian Roma singer who is also known for her humanitarian activities. The exhibition reportedly launches activities of the cornerstone-laying ceremony of Mother Teresa’s commemorative home in Skopje.

As BalkanTravellers.com reported in February, the initiative to contract an Eastern Orthodox church in the Macedonian capital’s central square, on the site of Mother Theresa’s birth home, was met by strong resistance by the Macedonian opposition party Democratic Union for Integration, which warned that the project may cause religious conflict.

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