The Vatican has approved a miracle attributed to Mother Teresa of Calcutta to move her one step closer to sainthood, Vatican sources said.
The move means the nun, who was known as the "saint of the gutter" will likely be beatified or declared a blessed of the Church, next year.
The miracle was the subject of a closed-door meeting at the Vatican in which doctors explained it to cardinals, bishops and priests who are members of the saint-making department known as the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
The miracle involved a 30-year-old Indian woman, Monica Besra, who was suffering from a stomach tumour and was healed inexplicably after praying to the nun.
At such meetings doctors tell the members of the congregation they have no medical explanation for the healing.
Last month the same department decided Mother Teresa, who died in 1997, possessed "heroic virtues" of the Christian faith for her services to the poor and her holiness.
If the Pope signs the decree approving the miracle, probably in December, a beatification ceremony can be held next year, the sources said.
A second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa would be needed after the beatification for her to be declared a saint.
Under Church rules, five years must pass after a person dies before the long bureaucratic procedure for sainthood can begin. But in 1999, Pope John Paul granted a dispensation so the procedure could start less than two years after her death.