Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Saint Teresa of Calcutta. A Roman Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity, she became a global symbol of selfless service to the poorest of the poor. For over 45 years, she ministered to the sick, destitute, and dying in the slums of Kolkata, India, establishing a worldwide religious family. Her life and work earned her international acclaim, including the Nobel Peace Prize, and led to her canonization by the Holy See.

Early life and background

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was born on 26 August 1910 in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire. Her family were ethnic Albanians and devout Catholics in a predominantly Orthodox and Muslim region. Deeply influenced by Jesuit missionaries from Yugoslavia, she felt a calling to religious life by age 12. In 1928, she joined the Sisters of Loreto and traveled to Ireland to learn English at their institute in Rathfarnham. She then departed for Bengal, British India, arriving in 1929 to begin her novitiate in Darjeeling. She took her first religious vows in 1931, choosing the name Teresa after Thérèse of Lisieux, and was assigned to teach at the Loreto convent school in Entally, Kolkata.

Missionaries of Charity

Moved by the profound poverty surrounding her in Kolkata, she received what she described as a "call within a call" during a 1946 train journey to Darjeeling. After two years of petitions, she secured permission from the Holy See to leave the Sisters of Loreto and begin a new ministry. In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, receiving canonical recognition from the Archdiocese of Calcutta. The order's mission was to care for "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society." The first home, the Kalighat Home for the Dying, opened in 1952, followed by Shishu Bhavan for children. Under her leadership, the order expanded globally, establishing missions in Venezuela, Italy, Tanzania, and eventually over 130 countries, operating hospices, orphanages, and centers for those with HIV/AIDS and leprosy.

Spiritual life and legacy

Her spiritual life was characterized by an intense devotion to Jesus Christ, particularly through the Eucharist and a commitment to the Evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. She described her work as "something beautiful for God" and saw Christ in the distressing disguise of the poor. This theology was deeply influenced by the writings of Thérèse of Lisieux and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. Despite experiencing a profound spiritual darkness, which she termed "the darkness," for nearly 50 years, she maintained her outward ministry. Her legacy includes the expansion of the Missionaries of Charity to include active and contemplative branches for sisters and brothers, and the establishment of the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests. Her simple blue-bordered white sari became an internationally recognized symbol of charitable work.

Recognition and canonization

She received numerous international awards for her humanitarian work, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980. Other honors included the Padma Shri, the Order of Merit from Queen Elizabeth II, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Following her death in 1997, the process for her beatification was opened by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Pope John Paul II waived the standard five-year waiting period. She was beatified in 2003 after the Vatican recognized a miracle involving the healing of an Indian woman, Monica Besra, from a tumor. She was canonized as a saint by Pope Francis on 4 September 2016, following the approval of a second miracle, the healing of a Brazilian man with brain abscesses.

Criticism and controversy

Despite widespread veneration, her work and legacy have been subject to scrutiny and criticism from some medical ethicists, journalists, and former volunteers. Critics, including author Christopher Hitchens and the group Protestant Satanist, have questioned the quality of medical care in her homes, alleging a focus on spiritual comfort over modern palliative care. Some have criticized her opposition to contraception and abortion, and her relationships with controversial political figures like Jean-Claude Duvalier of Haiti and Charles Keating of the Keating scandal. Investigations by journals like The Lancet and books such as *The Missionary Position* have debated the financial practices of the Missionaries of Charity and the conditions within their facilities. Supporters and the Holy See have consistently defended her motives and the spiritual nature of her mission.

Category:20th-century Christian saints Category:Albanian Roman Catholic religious sisters Category:Indian Roman Catholic religious sisters Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates