She’s more myth than “saint of the gutters” for allegedly helping the poorest of the poor. More on her unsaintly legacy below.
The New York Times highlighted Pope Francis deplorably calling her a “witness to mercy in our time,” adding she “deserves” sainthood.
The Times perpetuated her myth, falsely claiming she spent “a lifetime working with the poor and the sick, and with orphans, lepers and AIDS patients, first in the slums of Kolkata, India, and then in many other countries.”
Canonizing her 19 years after her 1997 death was remarkably fast, especially for someone so unworthy—the person, her persona and deeds far different from mythology about her.
Instead of helping the poor and needy, she fostered what Aroup Chatterjee called a “cult of suffering,” how things operated in Missionaries of Charity homes she ran—deplorable conditions substituting for noble work.
Her so-called hospitals were human warehouses. Hunger and malnutrition were widespread. Sick and dying patients got little medical care from untrained nuns and other personnel—poor food and mistreatment instead under deplorable unsanitary conditions, conducive to serious illnesses and diseases.
Most often she hobnobbed with the world’s rich, famous and infamous, accepting large donations from dubious sources, including notorious tyrants.
She was more sinner than saint, she and her staff dispensing inhumane and degrading treatment, while jet-setting in luxury, indulging in undeserved celebrity.
Instead of feeding thousands in Calcutta as claimed, it was scores at most. Enrollment at her school was less than 100, not the 5,000 she touted.
None of her alleged 102 family assistance centers in Calcutta existed. Her public persona was one thing, reality entirely different—elevating her to sainthood the latest example of deplorable Vatican policy.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” Visit his blog at sjlendman.blogspot.com . Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs three times weekly: live on Sundays at 1PM Central time plus two prerecorded archived programs.
Steven, I have read about this so called myth and am not convinced that Mother Theresa was a fraud. I am actually interested in her life because she represents so many devoted catholics (and I am sure other faiths) who despite doing corporal works of mercy feel that they are unworthy of God’s love, or somehow feel unloved and abandoned. Anyone who gives up creature comforts to serve the needs of others has my respect. Jesus asked us to give up our possessions and follow him. What facts are there that Mother Theresa did not do this? The Pope is the head of the church, and Jesus appointed the first pope, Peter. I trust the Pope’s judgment in his decision to canonize Mother Theresa. If you believe in the angels and saints, but not in Mother Theresa’s virtue, then pray to another saint for your needs. I look for evidence of her wrong doing, but find none. I choose to believe that she did all that she could for the poor- and that Calcutta was indeed a destitute place with very little hope. She brought hope and love to those who were abandoned in their illnesses. She may not have gone out of her way to ensure that patients were treated with full medical care and may have reused syringes etc…but prior to the Aids epidemic, I am doubtful that she was criticized for this- not knowing where the funding would be for the millions of poor and sick who relied on her or the kindness of others to get well. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I choose to believe in the Mother Theresa I have known throughout my life as a sacrificial lamb.
I have recoiled at the way some Catholics have vented un-Christian anger at Pope Francis and, now, at Saint Teresa.