Heroes We Wish are Immortals

f the Missionaries of Charity. She was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, part of the Ottoman Empire at the time. At the age of 18, she moved to Ireland and then to

ple who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis. The congregation also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children's and family counseling programmes, as w

by many for her charitable work, but was criticized for her views on abortion and contraception, as well as the poor conditions in her houses for the dying. Her authorized biography, written by Navin Chaw

gra

ly

Mother Teresa in

"rosebud" or "little flower" in Albanian. She was born on 26 August 1910 into a Kosovar Albanian family in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (now the capital of

in Ottoman Macedonia, died in 1919 when she was eight years old. He was born in Prizren (today in Kosovo), however, his family was

ssionaries and their service in Bengal; by age 12, she was convinced that she should commit herself to religious life. Her resolve st

lish with the intent of becoming a missionary; English was the language of instruction of the Sisters of Loreto in Ind

Teresa's School near her convent. She took her first religious vows on 24 May 1931. She chose to be named after Thérèse de Lisieux, th

. She served there for nearly twenty years and was appointed its headmistress in 1944. Although Mother Teresa enjoyed teaching at the school, she was increasingly disturbed by the

ience to serve the poor of India for Jesus. She asked for and received permission to leave the school. In 195

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Charity mother

n Darjeeling from Calcutta for her annual retreat. "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail

ral months in Patna to receive basic medical training at Holy Family Hospital and ventured into the slums. She founded a school in Motijhil, Calcutta, before she began tending to the poor and h

her diary that her first year was fraught with difficulty. With no income, she begged for food and supplies and e

and legs ached. I thought about how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health. Then, the comfort of Loreto [her former congregation] came to tempt me. "You have only to say the word

f Charity in t

arity. In her words, it would care for "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people wh

ghat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday). Those brought to the home received medical attention and the opportunity to die with dignity in accordance with their faith: Muslims were read the Qu

her Teresa's Calcu

linics throughout Calcutta, providing medication, dressings and food. The Missionaries of Charity took in an increasing number of homeless child

eresa then expanded the congregation abroad, opening a house in Venezuela in 1965 with five sisters. Houses followed in Italy (Rome), Tanzania and Austri

Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity. Responding to requests by many priests, in 1981, Mother Teresa founded the Corpus Christi Moveme

dwide, caring for refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless and victims of floods, epidemics and famine. By 2007, t

tional

alling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus." Fluent in five languages

ospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas. Accompan

e Missionaries of Charity. She began dozens of projects, undeterred by criticism of her stands against abortion and divorce: "No matter who says what

Chernobyl and earthquake victims in Armenia. In 1991 she returned to Albania

rom twelve to thousands, serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centers worldwide. The first Missionaries of Charity home in the United Sta

g health

a pacemaker. In 1991, after a bout of pneumonia in Mexico, she had additional heart problems. Although Mother Teresa offered to resign as

art surgery, her health was clearly declining. According to Archbishop of Calcutta Henry Sebastian D'Souza, he ordered a priest to perform an

sters and an associated brotherhood of 300 members operating 610 missions in 123 countries.These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis,

Sodano, the Pope's representative, delivered the homily at the service. Mother Teresa's death was mourned in the secular and religious communities. Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif called her "a rare and unique individual who lived long for higher purposes.

ion and

n

the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1969. She later received other Indian awards, including the Bharat Ratna (India's highest ci

ed in India) on 28 August 2010. President Pratibha Patil said, "Clad in a white sari with a blue border, she and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity b

His research, involving more than 100 interviews with volunteers, nuns and others familiar with the Missionaries of Charity, was described in a 2003 book critical of Mother Teresa. Chatterjee criticized her for promoting a "cult of suffering" and a distorted,

th Mother Teresa over the Christian Dalits but praised her in death and sent a representative to her funeral. Vishwa Hindu Parishad, however, opposed the government decision to grant her a state funeral. Secretary Giriraj Kishore said that "her first duty was to the Church and social service was incidental", accusing her of favoring Christians and conducting "secret baptisms" o

S spokesperson M. G. Vaidhya supported Bhagwat's assessment, and the organization accused the media of "distorting facts about Bhagwat's remarks". Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien, CPI leader Atul Anjan and Delhi chi

ewh

e Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House cerem

as an international celebrity. She had been catapulted to fame via Malcolm Muggeridge's 1969 BBC documentary, Something Beautiful for God, before he released a 1971 book of the same name. Muggeridge was undergoing a spiritual journey of his own at the time. During filming, footage shot in poor lighting (particularly at the Home for the Dying) was t

n XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, commending her work with the poor, her display of Christian charity and her efforts for pea

h Michèle Duvalie

a number of awards, culminating in the Order of Merit in 1983 and honorary citizenship of the United States on 16 November 1996. Mother Teresa's Albanian homeland gave her the Golden Honour of the Nation in 1994, but her acceptance of this and t

the La Storta Medal for Human Service from university president William J. Byron. She challenged an audience of 4,500 to "know poor people in your own home and local neighborhood", feeding others or simply spreading joy and love. Mother Teresa continued: "The poor will help us grow in sanctity, for they are Christ in the guise of distress". In A

hing first several times in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999 she headed Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century,

Peac

ey helped her to help the world's needy. When Mother Teresa received the prize she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered, "Go home and love your family." Building on this theme in her Nobel lecture, she said: "Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to

nd polit

eace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child – what is l

on abortion and contraception diverted funds from effective methods to solve India's problems. At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Mother Teresa said: "Ye

tic

edical care, systematic diagnosis, necessary nutrition and sufficient analgesics for those in pain; in the opinion of the three academics, "Mother Teresa believed the sick mus

of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction." He accused her of hypocrisy for choosing advanced treatment for her heart condition. Hitchens said that "her intention was not to help people", and that she lied to donors about how their contributions were used. "It was by talking to her that I

t priest Donald McGuire were untrue. When he was convicted of sexually molest

riticized Mother Teresa's stance a

itua

hers? She found it in prayer and in the silent contemplation of Jesus Christ, his Holy Face, his Sacred Heart." Privately, Mother Teresa experienced doubts and struggle i

there be God – please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such a

Teresa in Wenceslas Squar

t of nothingness") had similar experiences of spiritual dryness. According to James

us XII's death in 1958, she was praying for him at a requiem mass when she was relieved of "the

shop Ferdinand Perier and Jesuit priest Celeste van Exem (her spiritual advisor since the formation of the Missionaries

ainting honorin

et, "Jesus has a very special love for you. [But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see – liste

ample of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta we have a clear illustration of the fact that time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to

rs of Charity recite the prayer of Saint Francis every morning at Mass during the thanksgiving after Communion, and their emphasis on ministry and many of their

niza

and beat

ed postulator by the Diocese of Calcutta. Although he said, "We didn't have to prove that she was perfect or never made a mistake", he had to prove that Mother Teresa's

he lifetime of Mother Teresa at the Cathedr

w York Times he had treated Besra, said that the cyst was caused by tuberculosis: "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 [...] This miracle is a hoax." Besra said that her medical records, including sonograms, prescriptions and physicians' notes, were confiscated by Sister Betta of the Missionaries of Charity. According to Time, calls to Sister Betta and the office of Sister Nirmala (Teresa's successor as head of the ord

other Teresa) spoke to the tribunal; according to Vatican officials, the allegations raised were investigated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The group found no obstacle to Mother Teresa's canonisation, an

niza

in 2008. The miracle first came to the attention of the postulation (officials managing the cause) during the events of World Youth Day 2013 when the pope was in Brazil that July. A subsequent i

ding 15 government delegations and 1,500 homeless people from across Italy. It was televised live on the Vatican channel and streamed online; Skopje, Mother

f Calcutta

ember 2017. On 5 September 2017, Archbishop Thomas D'Souza, who serves as head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta, confirmed that Mother Teresa would be named co-patron of the Calcutta Diocese, alongside Francis Xavier. On 6 September 2017, about 500 people attended the Mass at a cathedral where Dominique

t. Francis Xavier the first pa

pictions in p

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ational Airpo

iday in Albania. In 2009, the Memorial House of Mother Teresa was opened in her hometown of Skopje, North Macedonia. The Cathedral of Blessed Mother Teresa in Pristina, Kosovo, is named in her honor. The demolition of a historic high school building to make way for th

aint Mother Te

viding poor and orphaned girls near the underserved village of Kasuva in Tamil Nadu with free food, clothing, shelter and education. A number of tributes by Mother Teresa's biographer, Navin Chawla, have appeared in Indian newspapers and magazines. Indian Railways introduced the "Mother Express", a new train named after Mother Teresa, on 26 August 2

ked number 5 in Outlook India'

nd lit

taries

k, Something Beautiful for God, by Malcolm Muggeridge. The film has be

he poor to accept their fate; the rich are portrayed as favored by God. It was the prec

out the life and work of Mother Teresa among the poor of India, directed by Amar Kum

usual access to institutional archives and how her vision to serve Chris

films and

on the Bible which aired on DD National during the early 1990s. She introdu

other Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor, wh

television miniseries, Mother Teresa of Calcutta

the 2014 film The Letters, which was based on

Freud in Epic Rap Battles of History, a comedy rap YouTube series created by

, Mother Teresa briefly appear