It's been 25 years since one of the world’s most famous religious figures, Mother Teresa, made her last trip to Merseyside.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta came to Liverpool several times between 1979 and 1996 to visit the community of the Missionaries of Charity, the Order she founded, at their city centre convent on Seel Street. The sisters provided accommodation for homeless men and women in the city, t he Liverpool ECHO previously reported.
A year before her death, the then 86-year-old made her final visit to Merseyside in 1996, flying into Speke Airport after spending several days in Ireland. At the time, it was reported how the Nobel Prize winner had made a "special request to visit the city."
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On June 17, 1996, the Liverpool ECHO said: "Mother Teresa asked to make the low profile visit after staying several days in Ireland. She arrived at Speke Airport this morning on a private flight from Dublin. She was met at the airport by nuns from the community in Seel Street, which looks after homeless men and women.
"Mother Teresa was to lead the nuns in special prayers and meditation before speaking at a public service starting at 4pm at St Peter's Church in Seel Street. There had been doubts about her visit to Liverpool because she had sprained her ankle on a visit to County Armagh but she recovered in time to make the flight."
Now the site of Alma De Cuba, many still remember the day Mother Teresa attended mass at the former St Peter's Church. This week marks 25 years since her last visit - you can see photos from that day in the gallery above.
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During her first visit in 1979, Mother Teresa declared that Liverpool was a city in need of love. She said: "Liverpool is full of those who hunger for love. They may not be poor for the material things of this life, but for love and things of the spirit there is a great hunger."
She visited again in 1982 and 1983, the latter occasion being a secret visit to make peace with Liverpool City Council, then under Militant control, who wanted to close the Seel Street hostel because it said the accommodation it provided was sub-standard. It led to a solution in which the hostel agreed to refer residential cases to the council’s 24-hour service and to concentrate on day care instead.
The latest series of Memory Lane is in major retailers including Asda, Tesco, Home Bargains and selected newsagents now. This series of the bumper picture special looks at fun in the sun - with stunning photographs and treasured memories of family holidays from years gone by. You can also buy Memory Lane online here.
Born in Macedonia as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910, Mother Teresa was known as the "Saint of the Gutters" in her lifetime for her humanitarian work in the slums of Calcutta. Her organisation, Missionaries of Charity, spread out from its Calcutta base to feed and care for millions around the world.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with the dying and destitute. And two decades after her death, she was was given one of the Catholic Church’s highest honours, being made a saint.
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