Mother Teresa of Kolkata is memorialized on a street just one block away from the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
A two-block stretch was named Mother Teresa of Calcutta Boulevard on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) 2004. Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn celebrated Mass at the Cathedral that day, then led a blessing and dedication of the newly-named street, which also keeps its original name, Old Kellogg Boulevard.
The renamed St. Paul street lies between two archdiocesan buildings: the Msgr. Ambrose Hayden Center at 328 W. Kellogg Blvd. and the chancery on Summit Avenue. The street carries little traffic, and no homes or businesses use it as an address.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians, which sponsors the annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass at the Cathedral, asked the St. Paul City Council in 2003 to rename a two-block section of Old Kellogg Boulevard in honor of then-Blessed Teresa, according to a story that appeared in The Catholic Spirit March 11, 2004, which quoted Leo Cullen, a former Hibernians state president who chaired the group’s street-naming project committee.
The proposal was then put on the council’s consent agenda and passed at its Nov. 5 meeting. Former Councilman Chris Coleman, who later became mayor of St. Paul, was instrumental in getting the proposal in front of the council.
After the 9 a.m. St. Patrick’s Day Mass, a procession including Archbishop Flynn went from the Cathedral to Old Kellogg Boulevard. In front of a crowd that included Hibernians, members of the Knights of Columbus and members of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa in India, Archbishop Flynn blessed the street. There are two signs on the street bearing Mother Teresa’s name.
