Urging an Empire State Building honor for Mother Teresa

Several New York City council members have joined an effort to get the owner of the Empire State Building to change his mind and light up the famed landmark in blue and white to honor Mother Teresa on her 100th birthday.

City Council president Christine Quinn said she had a meeting with building owner Anthony Malkin Tuesday asking him to change his mind.

"He was very respectful and said he would give my points consideration and reflection," she said.

She said several more council members are expected to weigh in with their support this week.

Malkin has stayed mum about why he rejected the request made in February by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Bill Donohue, the organization's president, said Tuesday he is organizing a protest where hundreds are expected to go to the Empire State Building on Aug. 26.

"People are coming in by the busload all the way from Rhode Island - this is far beyond New York City - this is an outrage," Donohue said.

At the Empire State Building Tuesday, tourists couldn't understand why the Catholic nun expected to be canonized by the Vatican would not be honored on Aug. 26.

"Why not? The woman is a legend," said Gabriel Moore, 33, of Derry, Ireland, who had finished a tour of the building. "Mother Teresa helped and cared for the poor. She is a saint."

Moore's traveling companion, Carla McGuigan, 25, also of Derry, said, "Lighting up the Empire State Building would show how much we appreciate her work, and all that she has done."

Brazilian visitor Daniel Gozalo, 43, said, "Of course she should be honored. She will be canonized a saint because of her love for the poor around the world."

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said the archdiocese did not have an immediate comment.

The Catholic League collected 10,000 signatures from petition forms that were inserted in its monthly newsletter, and 30,000 signatures that came in online.

Donohue said the request for blue and white are the colors of the Sisters of Loreto, Mother Teresa's order. She died in 1997. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, for caring for the poor and sick across the globe.