India's Apostle of the Peace will make her final journey today in a convoy of army vehicles, leaving Calcutta's poor and destitute to watch the procession from the pavements that are their only home. The Indian Government's decision to break with protocol and accord Mother Teresa a state funeral has been a mixed blessing, with the army bulldozing the Prime Minister's original plan to allow the 'poorest of the poor' to accompany the cortege on foot. But, following pressure from the Missionaries of Charity, two of the 20 vehicles accompanying the cortege will carry some of the orphans, lepers, handicapped and infirm who helped raise Mother Teresa's profile from that of the 'Saint of the Gutters' to the 'Saint of the Century'. Police and army officials have also decided to extend the route of the funeral procession to allow more people to view Mother Teresa's coffin and avoid a possible a stampede of mourners in Calcutta's already over-crowded streets. A total of 23 countries have sent official delegations to attend the funeral, which will be held in an indoor sports stadium specially prepared to host the event. United States First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will lead the foreign delegates, who will include the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Queen Begum Noor of Jordan and the Duchess of Kent. Three bullet-proof limousines for Mrs Clinton landed in Calcutta on Thursday and a six-member team from the US Secret Service has been in the city for most of the week overseeing arrangements for her one-day visit. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of mourners began arriving at St Thomas' Church early yesterday for their last glimpse of Mother Teresa's body, now draped in a green, white and orange Indian flag instead of the blue-bordered plain cotton worn by her Missionaries of Charity. As those outside waited patiently in queues stretching more than two kilometres, inside the church the sound of shuffling feet was mixed with the singing of hymns as Calcuttans paid homage to their most charismatic citizen. Among the crowds of common people were priests in white robes, saffron-clad Hindu ascetics, Muslim clergy, turbaned Sikh shopkeepers, and beggars for whom religion meant nothing more than asking for alms from pious pilgrims. 'She was loved by the rich and the poor, by Christians and non-Christian alike,' Sister Priscilla of the Missionaries of Charity said. Mother Teresa's body will be placed on a gun carriage before winding its way through Calcutta's streets to Netaji Indoor Stadium. A funeral mass attended by 12,000 people and broadcast live to audiences in India and around the world will be led by the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Pope's most senior representative. From the stadium the cortege will take Mother Teresa's coffin to the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity for a private burial ceremony attended only by her closest followers. A 12-gun salute and the playing of the Last Post will mark the end of the state funeral and the start of her inevitable ascent to sainthood.
