Knowing Mother Teresa, The Missionaries of Charity and How They Help The Poor

Knowing Mother Teresa, Missionaries of Charity and how they left no stone unturned to help the poor and needy

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the renewal of FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity was refused on Saturday, 25 December, for purportedly "not meeting the eligibility conditions under the FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011".

The MHA also said that the renewal of MoC's FCRA registration was valid up to 31 December 2021. This renewal is necessary for the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contributions.

Before one understands how this ‘refusal’ may affect the functioning of the congregation, it is imperative to understand the life and work of Mother Teresa and by extension the Missionaries of Charity.

The Missionaries of Charity is a religious congregation established by Mother Teresa in 1950 with the aim ' whole hearted free service to the poorest of the poor’.

Knowing Mother Teresa

Born on 26 August 1910 in Skopje in what is now North Macedonia, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was the youngest of the children born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu. Her family was faced with several financial constraints after her father’s untimely death when she was eight.

According to a 1988 biography Mother Teresa by Joan Graff Clucas, she was fascinated by stories of missionaries serving in Bengal and, even before her teenage years, decided on a religious life.

At the age of 18, she moved to Ireland in September 1928 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Sisters of Loreto. It is here that she got the name Sister Mary Theresa, after St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

In December that year, she left for India, arriving in Calcutta on 6 January, 1929. She was assigned to the Loreto Entally community and taught at the St. Mary’s school for girls from 1931. She became the school principal in 1944, before which she had made her final Profession of Vows in 1937, becoming the “spouse of Jesus for all eternity”. Since then, she was called as Mother Teresa.

But on 10 September, 1946 during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling, she received her “call within a call”. Over the course of the next few months, she is said to have “understood” more about the “call” or “Jesus’ message” which meant helping the poor and the neglected. And thus she conceived the idea of the “Missionaries of Charity.”

It was on August 7, 1948 when she dressed for the first time in her trademark white, blue-bordered saree and passed through the gates of Loreto to enter the world of the poor.

By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus,”

Mother Teresa

The Missionaries of Charity

It was on October 7 1950, that Mother Teresa and her “little society” of twelve members was officially permitted to identify as a religious organization and labelled as Diocesan Congregation of the Calcutta Diocese.

In Mother Teresa’s words, their 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, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."

Gradually it established religious branches which included orphanages, those dying of AIDS or terminal diseases, the blind, the disabled, refugees, aged, alcoholics, the homeless and victims of natural disasters.

In 1965, the Missionaries of Charity became an international religious family by a decree of Pope Paul VI. It opened its first international branch in Venezuela, followed by Rome, Tanzania, Australia, United States and more.

She also founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963, in 1976 the contemplative branch of the Sisters, in 1979 the Contemplative Brothers, and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. She further founded the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers which was not restricted to religious faith but brought people together in the spirit of prayer and to help the needy.

They even opened branches in the erstwhile Soviet Union and East European countries. Today, the organization is spread over 139 countries with over 5000 members and 760 homes.

Helping The Poorest of the Poor

Anyone who has worked closely with Mother Teresa can attest to the fact that she would never turn down anyone who was in need of help or was neglected. They tell tales about how she would be determined against all odds in order to help the needy.

And it is this sentiment that has resonated throughout the Missionaries of Charity, who over the years have looked after the homeless, lepers, orphans and more. Not only in India, but across the world have they done the same, and all of this without charging a single penny.

They have homes for orphans, an AIDS nursing home, a leper's colony (Shanti Nagar) for those who suffer from Leprosy and more.

She had converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat, Home for the Dying or Kalighat, Home for the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday). People with terminal illness were brought in and cared for, giving them an opportunity to die with dignity in accordance to their faith.

In 1982, during the siege of Beirut, she had helped rescue 37 children trapped in a hospital by brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine. She even travelled to Chernobyl to assist the radiation fallout victims, among the scores of people that she and her organization helped.

Besides looking after the needy, they also run schools to educate street children. They also help in rehabilitating trafficked children.

Her work drew the national and international attention and she was invited to speak at the United Nations General Assembly. She was bestowed with several awards including the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962, Bharat Ratna in 1980 and above all the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for “work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace".

However, her health started failing from 1983 when she had her first heart attack and when further complications arose in 1991, she offered to step down, but her offer was declined. She finally demitted office in March 1997 after a spate of other injuries and illnesses, and died on 5 September the same year. She was canonized on 4 September, 2016 by Pope Francis, to become Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

Continuing Mother Teresa's Work After Her Death

Over the years, they have been in the frontlines when it came to helping refugees, victims of natural disasters and war. A very recent example of their work is when they brought in 14 differently-abled children from Kabul to Rome to care for them after the Taliban took over.

Despite facing numerous challenges, they have also helped the poor during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing them with free meals, shelters and whatever treatment they could provide.

Controversies

The Missionaries of Charity have also faced their fair share of allegations over the years. In 2018, there were allegations that staff members at a Jharkhand home sold babies for adoption. A sister and a social worker employed there were arrested after they were accused of selling three babies for a hefty price.