Vatican: Would be nice if Mother Teresa made saint in 2016

Italian bishops conference daily on Thursday called September 4 'probable' date

Vatican City

: A Vatican official says it's too soon to say if Mother Teresa will be made a saint during the 2016 Holy Year of Mercy.

There's been speculation the nun who worked with the destitute and dying in India would be made saint by Pope Francis in a ceremony during the Holy Year, which runs from December 8 till November 20, 2016.

The Italian bishops conference daily Avvenire on Thursday, citing Italian news agency AGI, called September 4 a "probable" date.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi stressed that Francis still needs to approve a miracle attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession before she can become a saint.

Lombardi said canonization "would be lovely" and called the possibility she would be made a saint next year a "reasonable hypothesis, desire" by admirers.