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Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu
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Name
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Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu
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Religion
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Catholic
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Institute
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Sisters of Loreto(1928–1948),Missionaries
of Charity(1950–1997)
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Personal
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Nationality
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Ottoman subject
(1910–1912),Serbian subject (1912–1915),Bulgarian subject (1915–1918),Yugoslavian
subject (1918–1943),Yugoslavian citizen (1943–1948),Indian subject
(1948–1950),Indian citizen (1948–1997)
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Born
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26 August 1910
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Place
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Üsküp, Kosovo
Vilayet, Ottoman Empire(modern Skopje, Republic of Macedonia)
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Died
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5 September 1997
(aged 87)
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Place
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Calcutta, West
Bengal, India
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Senior posting
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Title
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Superior general Period
in office-1950–1997
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Successor
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Nirmala Joshi, MC
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Venerated in
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Roman Catholic
Church (India)
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Beatified
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19 October 2003,
Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
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Major shrine
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Mother House of
the Missionaries of Charity, Calcutta, West Bengal, India
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Feast
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5 September
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Attributes
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Nun's habit
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Rosary
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Patronage
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World Youth Day
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Missionaries of
Charity
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Mother Teresa
believed suffering—even when caused by poverty, medical problems, or
starvation—was a gift from God. As a result, while her clinics received
millions of dollars in donations, their conditions drew criticism from people
disturbed by the shortage of medical care, systematic diagnosis, and
necessary nutrition, as well as the scarcity of analgesics for those in pain.
Some have argued that the additional money could have had transformative
effects on the health of the poor by creating advanced palliative care
facilities in the city. Pro-choice groups criticised her stance on abortion,
while pro-life advocates praised her support of fetal rights
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After Mother
Teresa's death in 1997, the Holy See began the process of beatification, the
third step toward possible canonisation. This process requires the
documentation of a miracle performed from the intercession of Mother Teresa.
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In 2002, the
Vatican recognised as a miracle the healing of a tumour in the abdomen of an
Indian woman, Monica Besra, after the application of a locket containing
Mother Teresa's picture. Besra said that a beam of light emanated from the
picture, curing the cancerous tumour. Some of Besra's medical staff and
Besra's husband said that conventional medical treatment had eradicated the
tumour. Dr. Ranjan Mustafi, who told The New York Times he had treated Besra,
said that the cyst was not cancer at all but a cyst caused by tuberculosis.
He said, "It was not a miracle.... She took medicines for nine months to
one year." According to Besra's husband, "My wife was cured by the
doctors and not by any miracle." Besra's medical records contain
sonograms, prescriptions, and physicians' notes: Besra has claimed that
Sister Betta of the Missionaries of Charity is withholding them. The officials
at the Balurghat Hospital where Besra was seeking medical treatment have
claimed that they are being pressured by the Catholic order to declare the
cure a miracle.
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Christopher
Hitchens was the only witness as far as he knew, called by the Vatican to give
evidence against Mother Teresa's beatification and canonisation process,
because the Vatican had abolished the traditional "devil's
advocate" role, which fulfilled a similar purpose. Hitchens has argued
that "her intention was not to help people," and he alleged that
she lied to donors about the use of their contributions. "It was by
talking to her that I discovered, and she assured me, that she wasn't working
to alleviate poverty," says Hitchens. "She was working to expand
the number of Catholics. She said, 'I'm not a social worker. I don't do it
for this reason. I do it for Christ. I do it for the church.'"
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In the process of
examining Teresa's suitability for beatification and canonisation, the Roman
Curia (the Vatican) studied a great deal of published and unpublished
criticism of her life and work. Concerning allegations raised by journalist
Christopher Hitchens, Vatican officials have responded by saying that these
have been investigated by the agency charged with such matters, the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and that they found no obstacle to
Mother Teresa's beatification. Because of the attacks she has received, some
Catholic writers have called her a sign of contradiction. Mother Teresa was
beatified 19 October 2003, thereby bestowing on her the title
"Blessed."
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Mother Teresa had
first been recognised by the Indian government more than a third of a century
earlier when she was awarded the Padma Shri in 1962 and the Jawaharlal Nehru
Award for International Understanding in 1969. She continued to receive major
Indian awards in subsequent years, including India's highest civilian award,
the Bharat Ratna, in 1980. Her official biography was written by an Indian
civil servant, Navin Chawla, and published in 1992.
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On 28 August
2010, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth, the government of
India issued a special 5 Rupee coin, being the sum she first arrived in India
with. President Pratibha Patil said of Mother Teresa, "Clad in a white
sari with a blue border, she and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity
became a symbol of hope to many – the aged, the destitute, the unemployed,
the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families
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On 17 December
2015, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis recognised a second miracle
attributed to her involving the healing of a Brazilian man with multiple
brain tumours. The Vatican has scheduled 4 September 2016 as the canonisation
date for Teresa.
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In 1962, Mother
Teresa received the Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award for International
Understanding, given for work in South or East Asia.
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She was appointed
an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 1982, "for service to
the community of Australia and humanity at large." The United Kingdom
and the United States each repeatedly granted awards, culminating in the
Order of Merit in 1983, and honorary citizenship of the United States
received on 16 November 1996. Mother Teresa's Albanian homeland granted her
the Golden Honour of the Nation in 1994. Her acceptance of this and the
Haitian Legion of Honour proved controversial. Mother Teresa attracted
criticism from a number of people for implicitly giving support to the
Duvaliers and to corrupt businessmen such as Charles Keating and Robert
Maxwell.
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Civilian awards
include the Balzan Prize for promoting humanity, peace and brotherhood among
peoples (1978), and the Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975). In
April 1976, Mother Teresa visited the University of Scranton in northeastern
Pennsylvania where she was awarded the La Storta Medal for Human Service by
the university’s president, William Byron, S.J. While there, she also
addressed a crowd of 4,500 people. In her speech, she called the audience to
"know poor people in your own home and local neighborhood", whether
it meant feeding others or simply spreading joy and love. She continued,
stating that "the poor will help us grow in sanctity, for they are
Christ in the guise of distress," calling the students and residents of
the city of Scranton to give to suffering members in their community.Again,
in August 1987, Mother Teresa visited the University of Scranton and was
awarded an honorary doctor of social science degree in recognition of her
selfless service and her ministry to help the destitute and sick
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In 1979, Mother
Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for work undertaken in the
struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to
peace.
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