The late Mother Teresa is one step closer to becoming a saint.

The Roman Catholic nun, called a “living saint” during her lifetime, will be declared blessed in a ceremony Sunday by Pope John Paul II. Mother Teresa spent five decades of her life helping the poor in Calcutta, India.

Declaring people blessed means the Church is offering them as examples to the whole world, said John Donaghy, campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center.

People must meet certain criteria before they can be declared blessed.

The first step to declare someone blessed typically begins five years after the person’s death.

After a person is venerated, or considered holy, a group of people travel to the place where the person lived and died to interview people in that area, Donaghy said.

When the local investigation is complete, the diocese sends its findings to the Vatican.

“After it goes to Rome, it goes through more investigation,” Donaghy said. “They look in terms of signs of holiness and if they were really faithful members of the church.”

Donaghy said a person who is martyred can be declared blessed without a miracle and if the person was not martyred, they have to prove that the person performed one miracle.

In late 2002, a miracle was attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession.

Although reports of the miracle differ, it is believed to have involved the recovery of a young Indian woman with a stomach tumor. The woman recovered, without medical explanation, after an image of Mother Teresa was placed on her stomach.

After Mother Teresa’s death in 1997, the pope waived the standard five-year waiting period of the beatification process, which is the process to declare someone blessed.

Donaghy said he thinks there may be two possible reasons why the pope waived the waiting period.

“She was venerated throughout the world while she was alive, and because of the pope’s personal connection and veneration with her,” Donaghy said.

Donaghy said there has not been much opposition to declaring Mother Teresa blessed, but some people are questioning why the five-year waiting period was waived.

“It’s not so much [opposition] against her, but it’s a question of why others have not [had the waiting period waived],” Donaghy said.

In order to become canonized, investigators, including both Church and non-Church personnel, need to prove at least one more miracle can be credited to Mother Teresa’s intercession. Canonization is the step where a person can officially be classified as a saint.

Rachel Kliethermes, peer minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center, said she thinks Mother Teresa should be canonized because she embodies many of the same qualities other saints in history have had.

“I respect her so much and admire her ability to follow God’s call, to know that was in her life and be able to say, ‘I’m going to trust in you, God; do what you will to me,'” said Kliethermes, senior in civil engineering.

Kliethermes said she also admires how Mother Teresa did not preach at the poor but rather lived among them, as one of them, in order to teach them.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to attend Mass on Sunday at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, where the pope will beatify Mother Teresa.

The mass is one of the events occurring this week as the pope celebrates his 25th anniversary as the head of the Catholic Church.