Mother Teresa’s flock defend her legacy
KOLKATA, India: On the eve of her canonisation as a Catholic saint, and 19 years after her death, the order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta is going strong – even without her charismatic leadership.
The Missionaries of Charity gained world renown, and Mother Teresa a Nobel peace prize, by caring for the dying, the homeless and orphans gathered from the teeming streets of the city.
They also drew criticism for propagating what one sceptic has called a cult of suffering; for failing to treat people whose lives might have been saved with hospital care; and for trying to convert the destitute to Christianity.
While staying true to their cause, the Missionaries of Charity say they have responded to their detractors.
“There is no change in our way of treating the sick and dying – we follow the same rule that Mother had introduced,” said Sister Nicole, who runs the Nirmal Hriday home in the ancient district of Kalighat, the first to be set up by Mother Teresa in 1952.
The nuns no longer picked up people “randomly” off the streets, she said, and only took in the destitute at the request of police.
“Any good work will be challenged but if the work is genuinely good it will survive such criticism and carry on to be God’s true work,” said Nicole.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to gather in Rome on Sunday for a canonisation service led by Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, in front of St Peter’s Basilica.
Kolkata, as the former capital of the British Raj is now called, is holding prayers, talks and cultural events. But no major ceremony is planned to mark the path to sainthood for the two miracles of healing attributed to Mother Teresa.
Ko l k a t a Arch b i s h o p Thomas D’Souza played down suggestions that Mother Teresa was not loved and respected by people of other faiths in a city that is home to 170 000 Catholics. “Mother is certainly not a goddess to them, but she is deeply venerated and people – cutting across caste, community and creed – are respectful of her work.” – Reuters