“Mother Teresa has already been beatified. For her canonisation as a saint, she now requires one more verified miracle,” The Daily Telegraph reported here on Saturday, quoting Monsignor Robert Sarno, in charge of her case at Congregation for the Causes of Saints, as saying.

The ‘Saint of the Gutter’, who died on September 5, 1997, nine days after her 87th birthday, is likely be canonised as a saint by the Vatican later this year.

Admitting that Mother Teresa had, at times, turned away from God, Mgr Sarno said, “It’s really very simple. People have to realise that the Church does not canonise God. She was a human being... she faced reality. Even the saints are faced with the difficulties of life.”

The Vatican has more than 35,000 pages of documents attesting to the virtues and shortcomings of Mother Teresa. Mgr Sarno said he had to close the investigation because of the enormous amount of evidence that poured from Mother Teresa’s supporters. “Over 100 witnesses, far more than in any other case for sainthood, have testified.”

According to some of the letters within her file, Mother Teresa began to struggle with her belief in God at roughly the same time as she started caring for the poor and sick in Kolkata in 1949.