MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA: BIOGRAPHY, MISSIONS, AWARDS, DEATH - ARTE - 2025

Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910 - 1997) was a missionary, Catholic nun and saint of the same religion. She is also known by her first name, Agnes Goxha Bojaxhiu. She founded the Order of the Missionary Sisters of Charity in 1950.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta was born in Albania, but was naturalized as an Indian citizen. She devoted her life to work for the benefit of the poor, orphans and sick people. The actions he undertook awarded him numerous awards, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

Tretrato de Teresa de Calcutta, by JudgefloroDerivative work: TharonXX / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

He founded orphanages, hospices, and soup kitchens in popular neighborhoods. In the same way, it collaborated with those with HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and leprosy, who were normally discarded from local hospitals because they were considered dangerous or unpleasant.

Its assistance programs, as well as its orphanages, are found in more than 130 countries. Teresa of Calcutta served as an inspiration for society as an inspiration for her devotion to helping those in need in contemporary times. Her main motivation is summarized in the following sentence: "Help the poorest of the poor."

Because of the rapidity with which his order grew, the entire world turned its gaze to Mother Teresa. The media also focused on their activities and funding increased.

Early years

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born on August 26, 1910 in Uskub a city that was part of the Ottoman Empire, currently known as Skopje, North Macedonia.

The family of the future saint was of Albanian roots and they were in favor of the independence cause of their nation.

She was the youngest daughter of the marriage between Nikollë Bojaxhiu and Dranafile Bernai. She had an older sister named Aga, born in 1905 and another named Lazar who came to the world in 1908.

Her family was deeply Catholic and from a young age she was taught the importance of her faith.

Nikollë was a merchant of various goods such as medicine and food, he also worked as a construction contractor. The Bojaxhiu couple during Agnes's early years maintained a privileged economic position.

In 1919 Nikollë died suddenly, due to the relationship he had with the political sphere of his town. It was considered that he may have been a victim of poisoning.

The alleged assassins would have been his rivals who opposed his ideas of freedom for Albania. Agnes at that time was eight years old and since then she has been under the care of her mother, like her brothers.

The moral and religious guidance fell since then on Dranafile, who never neglected those aspects in teaching his children, as well as the love of God.

Vocation to serve

Agnes and her mother were very close and that bond was strengthened after the loss of her father. The youngest of the Bojaxhiu was a member of the choir of the parish of the Sacred Heart, there she showed great talent and was allowed to exhibit it with the solos that she frequently interpreted.

From a very young age he was practicing an active religious life: at the age of five he made his first communion. A year later Agnes was prepared to take the sacrament of confirmation.

At that time, in addition to attending the local school, she was involved with the Marian organizations in her community.

On her twelfth birthday, Agnes Bojaxhiu became interested in the stories she was hearing about Jesuit missionaries who had traveled to Bengal to bring the word of God there. That same year she felt the call to take religious life as a path for her.

During a pilgrimage to the Church of the Black Madonna in Letnice in August 1928, Agnes confirmed her wish. Her next action was to consecrate her life to religious activity.

Religious life

Young Agnes Bojaxhiu was 18 at the time she left home and embarked on a journey to Ireland. There she joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin and began her preparation in the English language to be assigned to her ultimate mission.

After a few months it was decided that Agnes should settle in India to serve as a missionary there. She was a novice in Darjeerling, near the Himalayas, working in parallel as a teacher at the school attached to the convent.

On May 24, 1931 Agnes made her vows of chastity and poverty. In addition, she changed her name to María Teresa. She chose the Castilianized form of the name of Thérèse de Liseux, patron saint of missionaries.

She was then transferred to the Santa Maria school in Entally, located east of Calcutta. She stayed there for almost twenty years, and there she rose to leadership in 1944. In the meantime she learned to speak Hindi and Bengali fluently.

True inclinations

Years later, on May 14, 1937, he made his solemn vows. These served as confirmation of the vows made in his youth. Although she was happy to serve as a teacher, she did not condone the poverty that surrounded her in the city of Calcutta.

That problem haunted his mind frequently, especially after the Bengal famine in 1943 and the fighting between Muslims and Hindus three years later.

Missionaries of Charity

Sister Teresa had an episode of inspiration on September 11, 1946. She then experienced what she later dubbed her "call within the call." She felt that God was asking her to dedicate her life to helping the least favored in society.

That desire settled in his soul during a trip to Darjeeling for his customary spiritual retreat. According to her new mission, she had to live outside the convent together with the poor and help them as much as possible.

Approval

In any case, Sister Teresa could not leave the convent without permission. In 1948 she got the go-ahead she had wanted so much and finally gave up the classic habit and began wearing a white saree with blue edges.

From that moment he moved to the poor neighborhoods that he met while working as a teacher. He got a hostel donated to him and founded his new order in 1948: the Missionary Sisters of Charity.

Also at that time he received instruction in medical care in order to better carry out his mission. Beginning in 1949 some of her former students decided to join her cause.

the beginning

Sister Teresa stated that her early years had been difficult to bear. As much for the economic aspect, as for her own willpower that sometimes faltered.

The year 1950 was of the utmost importance to Teresa and her cause. Not only did she adopt Indian nationality, but her organization was officially accepted by Pope Pius XII as an official Catholic group.

He claimed that he would take care of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, as well as those who could not fend for themselves, the crippled, the blind, the lepers. In short, his crusade was for all those who felt unwanted or cut off from society.

In 1952 he founded the Kalighat Hospice, which was based in an abandoned temple that belonged to the Hindu goddess Kali. There all the sick awaiting death could fulfill the rites corresponding to their faith.

Muslims, Catholics and Hindus alike could meet a peaceful death within the Kalighat Hospice. Some time later he founded another establishment, but which provided assistance to lepers, that assistance center was called Ciudad de la Paz.

He also created orphanages, the first of which was the Immaculate Heart Children's Home, which was dedicated to orphans and homeless youth.

Internationalization

Little by little, the work of the Missionary Sisters of Charity began to attract the attention of different sectors. Many donations and great collaboration with her endeavor took place during the 1960s.

Some of the things that served to disseminate the activities he was doing was the number of awards he received. For example, the Padma Shri of 1962, one of the greatest honors given by the Indian Government to a civilian.

Venezuela

In this way, expansion became possible, not only internally, but also abroad. Already in 1965 the procedures had been carried out and the founding of the first house of the Missionary Sisters of Charity outside of India was established.

The place to begin the new international vision of the order led by Teresa of Calcutta was Venezuela, specifically a town from the Yaracuy state called Cocorote. Five volunteer sisters were sent there.

The negotiations were led by the Archbishop of Barquisimeto: Críspulo Benítez. Teresa of Calcutta herself visited the Latin American country and was present during the inauguration in July 1965.

On July 29, he received honorary Venezuelan nationality and years later the highest honor was given to civilians given by the Venezuelan Government: the Order of the Liberator Simón Bolívar (1979).

Global recognition

The international gaze fell on the work that Mother Teresa of Calcutta did every day and the attention grew more and more.

In 1968 Rome requested that the Missionary Sisters of Charity open a house in this Italian city. The matter was dealt with quickly and the center was created with a majority of volunteers from India.

In 1971, Mother Teresa of Calcutta received the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in its first edition. In 1979 she won the award that brought her the most renown, the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1980 the Government of India decided to award him the Bharat Ratna, which was the highest award that could be given to a civilian in that nation.

Other branches

Different groups of people, both religious Catholics and lay faithful, members of other religions and people without creed, felt the call to join the proposal of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

The first to join was the male chapter of the brotherhood: the Missionaries of Charity Brothers. They were founded by Brother Andrew (Ian Travers-Ballan).

Like the division led by Mother Teresa, this group was active and its headquarters were established in Australia.

In 1976 a contemplative branch of the sisterhood was added and three years later a contemplative male counterpart of the Missionaries of Charity was added to this order.

Also in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers emerged as an option for Catholic priests wishing to join the order. Much of the help to develop this branch was provided by Joseph Langford.

A place for everyone

In addition, other groups were created which could include the laity and the non-religious or members of other faiths.

Among these groups were the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Co-Workers for the Poor and Suffering, and finally the lay Missionaries of Charity.

The Missionaries of Charity grew not only in terms of headquarters and divisions, but also in resources. The newscasts gave space to broadcast the activities of the nun who was dedicated to assisting members of society who were discarded.

From that point on, she came to be seen as a humanitarian role model and a lifestyle inspiration. That was Teresa of Calcutta's greatest legacy, to become an example of dedication to the service of the less favored.

Other international events

In the 1970s Mother Teresa of Calcutta assisted women displaced by the liberation war in Bangladesh.

The Missionary Sisters of Charity provided care and shelter to the victims of the aforementioned war conflict. In addition, they encouraged them to rebuild their lives after the end of the armed struggle.

During the 1980s, with the help of the Red Cross, Mother Teresa's order rescued 37 children. They had been trapped during the siege of Beirut in a local hospital.

During the same period the participation of this order increased in countries that were dominated by communist regimes. Until then, they had not wanted to have contact with religious organizations.

The houses of the Missionary Sisters of Charity reached Armenia, Ethiopia. They were even able to provide support when the Chernobyl nuclear accident happened.

Last years

The last years of this future saint of the Catholic Church were full of difficulties related to her health. In 1983, Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a heart attack during a visit to Rome in which she was to meet with the Pontiff John Paul II.

After six years, when it was 1989, a second heart attack struck Mother Teresa's heart.

At that point the doctors decided that the most prudent thing to do was to put a pacemaker on him. Thus the device could collaborate with the normal functioning of your cardiovascular system.

Despite all the medical episodes she had faced, the leader of the Missionary Sisters of Charity order continued her constant travels and did not neglect her mission.

In 1991, during a visit to Mexico, he suffered from pneumonia, in addition to other heart problems.

Then he considered that it was not necessary to risk the optimal functioning of the order. In any case, the sisters who made it up voted for Mother Teresa to remain at the helm.

Other diseases

The daily life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta during her last years of life were health problems.

A pulmonary congestion affected her in 1993, so she had to be hospitalized once more. In addition, she contracted malaria that year and broke three ribs.

In 1996 he fractured his clavicle, soon after doctors noticed that the left ventricle of his heart was not working properly. She decided to have surgery, for which she entered a health center in California.

That decision was very controversial, since it was said that she pretended to have care that she did not provide for those who attended her hospices.

At that time the Archbishop of Calcutta had an exorcism performed on him. That clergyman considered that so many health problems were due to the fact that Mother Teresa was constantly being attacked by the devil.

On March 13, 1997, Teresa of Calcutta decided to resign her position as leader of the Missionary Sisters of Charity.

She feared that her poor physical condition would affect the way the order was managed, so Sister María Nirmala Joshi was selected to fill her position.

Death

Teresa of Calcutta passed away on September 5, 1997 in Calcutta, India. She suffered from cardiac arrest after a long history of cardiovascular disease. At the time of her death she was 87 years old.

He received a state funeral by the Government of India, few civilians had had such honors in the country, among them was Mahatma Ghandi.

By the time Mother Teresa of Calcutta died, her order had managed to expand from a few of her female students to over 4,000 members.

The 610 missions they had were deployed in more than 120 countries. The order's participation reached all continents.

Since the 1980s, the Missionaries of Charity Sisters have also dedicated themselves to caring for people with HIV / AIDS.

Both Catholics and faithful of other faiths and even atheists recognized the work of Mother Teresa throughout the world.

Political leaders and organizations of different kinds expressed their regret for the loss of a life that left a deep mark on the history of the 20th century.

Review

There are several issues that caused controversy around the figure of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Among them the main ones were:

- Bad medical care

According to Robin Fox, the volunteer staff who worked in the houses of the Missionary Sisters of Charity were not sufficiently prepared to carry out the work they carried out.

They also did not have the proper hygiene conditions for optimal patient recovery.

In this way, many patients who could be cured ended up dying. This was because some conditions were complicated by poor medical service or other illnesses contracted in hospices.

The fact that patients who were housed in the homes of the Missionaries of Charity were denied the use of painkillers was also criticized. The excuse with which this point was approached was that suffering brings people closer to God.

- Links

Among the public figures with whom Teresa of Calcutta was related, some attracted a negative perception of her image to her. Among those were the Haitian dictators François and Jean-Claude Duvalier.

He was also in contact with Enver Hoxa, who was the leader of socialist Albania, as well as with his close family and political circle.

Another of Mother Teresa's controversial connections was Licio Gelli, linked to the Italian neo-fascist group known as the Social Movement.

- Religious vision

The leader of the Missionary Sisters of Charity received much criticism for her fundamentalist approach to the faith. She did not approve any reform to the Catholic dogma, instead affirming that it should be strengthened.

It also did not approve of discussions about issues such as abortion and rejected the use of contraceptives, despite the AIDS crisis that took place during the 1980s.

- Religious colonialism

It is also said that Mother Teresa tried to force the Catholic religion on the people she helped.

Many considered that the deathbed baptisms that were practiced by the sisters of their order could be considered forced conversions to the dying.

- Defending

In favor of her figure, as well as her work, it was said that many of the criticisms that were made of Mother Teresa's work were unfounded.

They were said to be unsupported comments, as they referred to her alleged inability to fulfill purposes that were not adopted by the nun.

An example of this was the creation of hospitals with excellent facilities or the fact that the mother did not seem to act as a social worker.

Instead, his desire and determination was always to provide the marginalized with a space. Especially to those who were rejected in other assistance centers a place to die with dignity.

Way to the altars

Beatification

One of the steps required to make an individual a saint within the Catholic rite was beatification. To achieve this status, a miracle must be awarded to the person you wish to elevate to the altars. This must be confirmed.

The first intercession of Mother Teresa of Calcutta is documented in 1998 and favored Monica Besra, who suffered from a tumor in the abdomen.

This patient stated that after placing an image of Mother Teresa in the diseased area, it gave off a glow and was subsequently cured.

Both the doctors and Besra's husband considered that he was cured by the conventional medical treatment he received.

In any case, in 2002 the event was recognized by the Vatican as a miracle and on October 19, 2003, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was named Blessed by Pope John Paul II.

Canonization

A second miracle was to be acknowledged to Mother Teresa. That was the way to continue the process of sanctification of the founder of the order of the Missionary Sisters of Charity.

In 2015, during the papacy of Francis II, the Blessed was awarded the cure of a Brazilian. The patient suffered from several brain tumors and the episode allegedly occurred, according to records, in 2008.

The matter began to be investigated in June 2015 and, then, it was concluded that it was a true miraculous intercession.

Pope Francis II carried out the canonization ceremony of Mother Teresa of Calcutta on September 4, 2016. The ceremony was attended by diplomatic delegates from various countries, the faithful and the homeless from the region.

The city to which he gave his life's work, Calcutta, decided to appoint Saint Teresa of Calcutta as the joint patroness of their archdiocese in September 2017.

Thus it was established together with Francisco Javier, who had been the local patron saint since 1986.

Awards

- Padma Shri Award, 1962.

- Ramon Magsaysay Prize for Peace and International Understanding, 1962. Awarded in South East Asia.

- Jawaharlal Nehru, 1969.

- Juan XXIII Peace Prize, 1971.

- Good Samaritan Award, 1971. Boston.

- Kennedy Award, 1971.

- Koruna Dut, 1972. Award given by the President of India.

- Templeton Prize, 1973.

- Albert Schweitzer International Prize, 1975.

- Pacem in terris Award, 1976.

- Balzan Prize, 1978.

- Nobel Peace Prize, 1979.

- Bharat Ratna, 1980.

- Order of Merit, 1983. Awarded by the Government of Great Britain.

- Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1985.

Others

- La Storta Medal for Humanitarian Service, 1976. Awarded by the University of Scranton.

- Honorary Doctorate in Theology from the University of Cambridge, 1977.

- Simón Bolivar Liberator Order, 1979. Awarded by the Government of Venezuela.

- Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, 1982.

- Honorary doctorate from the University of Brussels, 1982.

- Golden Honor of the Nation, 1994. Delivered by the Government of Albania.

- Honorary citizenship of the United States of America, 1996.

- Gold Medal of the United States Congress, 1997.

Quotes

- "The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but the feeling of not being wanted."

- "The hunger for love is much more difficult to satisfy than the hunger for food."

- “Don't wait for leaders; do it yourself, person to person ”.

- "I have always said that we must help a Hindu to become a better Hindu, a Muslim to become a better Muslim, a Catholic to become a better Catholic."

- "If you judge people, you don't have time to love them."

- "In this life we ​​cannot do great things, we can do small things with great love."

- "Spread love wherever you go, first of all in your home. Give love to your children, your husband, your neighbor. Don't let anyone who comes to you walk away without feeling better and happier. "

- “We are misunderstood, we are misinterpreted, we are misrepresented. We are not doctors or nurses, we are not teachers or social workers. We are religious, we are religious, we are religious ”.

- “I see God in every human being. When I wash the wounds of the lepers, I feel that I am attending to God himself. Isn't it a beautiful experience? "

- "We will never know all the good that a simple smile can do."

References

1. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2020. Mother Teresa - Canonization, Awards, Facts, & Feast Day. Available at: britannica.com.
2. En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Mother Teresa. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
3. NobelPrize.org. 2020. The Nobel Peace Prize 1979. Available at: nobelprize.org.
4. Vatican.va. 2020. Mother Teresa Of Calcutta (1910-1997), Biography. Available at: vatican.va.
5. En.wikiquote.org. 2020. Mother Teresa - Wikiquote. Available at: en.wikiquote.org.
6. Pérez, R., 2020. Teresa De Calcutta Also Left Her Mark In Venezuela. Aleteia.org - Spanish. Available at: es.aleteia.org.