Pope Francis presided over the canonization mass at St. Peter's square, which started at 10:30 am local time (8:30 am GMT). Bishops from India - Mother Teresa's place of resident, and Albania - her place of birth, attended the ceremony alongside state officials, CNN has reported.

Catholic pilgrims from different parts of the world gathered in Vatican City to witness Pope Francis' delivery of Mother Teresa's formula for canonization. Cheers spread throughout the crowd as the formula decreed the nun's veneration as a saint.

The Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, conducted a special mass in Calcutta, India. The order also set up television screens at the Mother House showing the live coverage of the proceedings in Vatican City, according to BBC.

Typically, the road to sainthood is a long one, with many of the Catholic Church's blessed people and saints receiving their respective honors decades or centuries after death. Mother Teresa's case, however, has been special due to the strong clamor her devotees have expressed for her holiness.

Pope John Paul II initiated the process for Mother Teresa's sainthood in 1999 - barely two years after the nun's death in 1997. Such effectively served as a waiver for the traditional five-year waiting period after death the Catholic Church observes for documenting a person's life and works for sainthood.

A miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, involving one Monica Besra who claimed that her prayer to the nun healed her stomach tumor, led to her beatification by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Pope Francis' recognition of a second miracle in March 2016 confirmed her way to sainthood.