Current Events
Mother Teresa Humanitarian Image a Myth
RON DICKER
A new study by Canadian academics says Mother Teresa was a product of hype who housed the poor and sick in shoddy conditions, despite her access to a fortune.
The Times of India, reporting on the controversial essay, wrote that the authors asserted Mother Teresa saw beauty in the downtrodden's suffering and was far more willing to pray for them than provide practical medical care.
Meanwhile, researchers say, the Vatican engaged in a PR ploy as it threw aside concerns about her suspicious financial dealings and contacts to forgo the five-year waiting period to beatify her.
One of the researchers, Serge Larivee of the University of Montreal's department of psycho-education, told the school's website, “Given the parsimonious management of Mother Teresa's works, one may ask where the millions of dollars for the poorest of the poor have gone?”
The research paper claims that the celebrated nun had 517 missions in 100 countries at the time of her death, but that the majority of patients were not cared for properly and many were left to die, according to the university website.
In addition, the Vatican is said to have ignored a doctor's assertions when it concluded that a Mother Teresa miracle healed a woman who had tuberculosis and an ovarian cyst.
Researchers Carole Senechal of the University of Ottawa and Larivee and Genevieve Chenard from the University of Montreal came to their conclusions by examining 96 percent of the originally researched, published works about Teresa, according to the University of Montreal website. Their findings are to be published in French-language journal Studies in Religion/Sciences.
Some of their references included medical journals and British journalist Christopher Hitchens, who called Mother Teresa a "fraud."
Other researchers have criticized Mother Teresa's efforts in the past. Mother Teresa: A Biography, written by Meg Greene and published in 2004, recounts an article by the Lancet medical journal that outlined the neglect and lack of expertise in a Calcutta facility established by Mother Teresa.
The website of the Nobel Peace Prize, which Mother Teresa won in 1979, takes a far more positive view of her deeds. It celebrates her early work in Calcutta's slums and credits her order and its outgrowths with providing "effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries." Indeed, the U of M paper even concedes that one of her legacies is the generation of humanitarians she inspired.
Mother Teresa died at age 87 in 1997.
[Courtesy: The Huffington Post]
March 7, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 07, 2013, 9:36 AM.
India is the land of charlatans, both home-grown and marauders from abroad, who cheat the morbidly superstitious people of the land for money, power and various types of gratification. Teresa was no different from the clown who jets around the world hugging people and raking in millions! Some charity! Some religiousity!
2: Dr.Birinder Singh Ahluwalia (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 07, 2013, 2:03 PM.
Mother Teresa's life long unwaivering commitment to serve humanity is to be lauded and thanked from our hearts. What we need to caution against is some among us who attempt to create idols and others who wish to tear down such idols - our foibles should not become judging criterion for someone else's sacrifice and servitude of humanity. Mother Teresa will always remain a saint in many hearts and souls ... and so also we should remain respectful of the religious heads of different faiths.
3: S Singh (Milford, USA), March 07, 2013, 2:33 PM.
I am not sure if this is accurate or not, but I had heard that in 1984 one of the conditions for adopting Sikh orphans was their conversion to Christianity by her mission. Does anyone have any info on this subject?
4: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 07, 2013, 5:16 PM.
Commentator #3, in Punjab right now, poor peasants and the unemployed are being tempted by touts with 20,000 rupees per person (roughly, $500) to convert to Christianity! Backward forces have always been at play, never dormant, in human history.
5: Gaz (United Kingdom), March 07, 2013, 5:18 PM.
Yes, S. Singh ji, there is a photograph and account in the SGPCs White Paper on Sikh orphan converts to Christianity.
6: N Singh (Canada), March 07, 2013, 6:50 PM.
I had heard that her support and help was only offered to those who would convert to Christianity but I was not aware that this had happened in 1984 and in the Punjab. I am shocked and disgusted, but saddened at the same time that amidst all the confusion and anquish we have failed each other along the way.
7: Harmeet Singh (USA), March 08, 2013, 1:01 AM.
Did Dr Ahluwalia (Comment # 2) even read the article that clearly states that "Mother" Teresa had an obsession with making people suffer as mechanism of spirituality? I suggest that sikhchic.com introduce its readers to "The Missionary Position" by Christopher Hitchens. Also, Teresa, Gandhi and Dalai Lama were exposed in the American investigative TV series hosted by Penn & Teller several years ago. They are also very informative and eye-opening.
8: Bhai Harbans Lal (Dallas, Texas, USA), March 08, 2013, 11:19 AM.
Not only do I agree with Dr. Birinder Singh Ahluwalia, I think this article should have not been reproduced on sikhchic.com. There are many other issues in our community that are far more important to give air to than hair-splitting of the challenges facing the Vatican.
9: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 08, 2013, 12:01 PM.
I beg to disagree with some of the comments. This is an important article! We need to let our masses know how they get gypped not only by deras and babas but also by the likes of 'mother' Teresa, Mohandas Gandhi, Sai Baba, etc., etc. Most of the cheer-leaders of these hollow men and women have vested interests of their own to build and nourish.
10: Harpreet Singh (Delhi, India), March 08, 2013, 12:03 PM.
I do not know much about the working of institutions run by Mother Teresa. However, many years back I read an article by Bhagat Puran Singh ji of Pingalwara in which he levelled serious allegations against her regarding opening of a centre in Amritsar when Pingalwara was already functioning there. One more thing, there were full page advertisements by the Govt. of India about her on her birthday and the day she died, but no such, not even the slightest recognition, of Bhagat ji.
11: Devinder Pal Singh (Delhi, India), March 08, 2013, 1:09 PM.
Her precondition to serve only those who were Christians is astonishing. This fanaticism is something which I had experienced when I happened to witness a young Christian lady arguing with a non-Christian and clearly sounding resolute in her belief that others were infidels, citing what she herself had been preached. Such was the fanatical out-burst that it left me wondering how deep-rooted was her indoctrination that it did not allow her to visualize humanity in all its glory and expanse. Religious following should not be a precondition to serve and share, a message clearly imparted by our Gurus and forever enshrined in the shabads in the Guru Granth Sahib. Fortunately, to live this practice, our Gurus started the Langar, open to one and all without any restrictions or bias. This is a practice which every Sikh and Sikh community worldwide continues to practice and humbly cherish. The criticism is genuine and will hopefully make the Church deliberate and turn away from granting her sainthood.
12: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 08, 2013, 3:38 PM.
It is for good reason that our Gurus chided the clergy of all religions, and expressly rejected any form of clergy within Sikhism.
13: Sarvjit (Milford, USA), March 08, 2013, 3:47 PM.
Post number 4/5: I am interested in knowing if Mother Teresa's Mission (Nirmal Hridaya) was responsible for the conversion of the Sikh orphans, either directly or indirectly. I understand that there are other missionaries working hard against Sikhs but none of them get the same status as she does ...
14: R S Minhas (Millburn, New Jersey, USA), March 08, 2013, 5:12 PM.
For the last hundred years we have seen westward migration from the east for better economic and political freedoms. Much motivated by self interest. When someone does the opposite, and spends time in the company of the poor, underprivileged orphans and in prayer, I think it ought to be congratulated. It is a more difficult calling. Imagine spending a lifetime in smelly slums in monastic isolation. Not easy. If she fell short of some expectations, it perhaps needs overlooking. Leaving self interest of conversions aside, the role played by nuns and missionaries in bringing modern schools to the masses is quite laudable. Graduates from those hallowed institutions have occupied prominent positions worldwide. Bhagat Puran Singh is a hero who did not get as much recognition. His commitment despite lack of recognition or resources is a sign of true greatness.
15: Gurteg Singh (New York, USA), March 09, 2013, 1:40 AM.
Punjab and particularly Sikhs are now a target of Christian missionaries. I know of many organizations here in USA who are actively engaged in conversion activities in Punjab, backed by powerful Western financial resources. Missionaries have attempted to repackage Christianity. Jesus is called 'Satguru', church is referred to as 'Satsang' and choir singing is called 'Kirtan'. Choir boys in Punjabi churches wear turbans to copy the cultural and religious traditions of Punjab. However, despite these attempts to disguise Christianity as a version of Sikhism, missionaries still cannot hide their intent and are aggressively marketing their faith through open door Church or church without walls run by pastor Harbhajan Singh who converted 2800 people in and around village Khojewala. The son of the past head granthi of Harmandar Sahib has even been lured to become their chief missionary in Punjab. Sikh leadership is totally clueless, corrupt and weak and our religious institutions are now completely under the control of a ruthless gang of criminal politicians whose only aim is power and pelf at any cost.
16: Bikramjit Singh (London, United Kingdom), March 09, 2013, 9:54 AM.
I congratulate sikhchic.com for posting this article on this site. There is more and more awareness about the truth about Mother Theresa and there was even a discussion programme about her a few years ago on the BBC. She certainly did hog the limelight and enjoyed a close relationship with dictators and their money. She was asked to return the swindled money she was donated by a fraudster by the judge hearing the case, in answer to her sending a testimonial letter on the fraudster's behalf. She kept the money. The Catholic church, beset as it was in the 90s with the pedophile priests' scandal, needed a 'saint' to counter the bad publicity, so they hung on to Mother Theresa.