Mother Teresa's legacy under cloud with claims of negligence
As the Vatican grants her sainthood - claims of medical negligence and financial mismanagement at her care homes threaten to cloud her legacy.
Pope Francis approved the canonisation of the widely beloved Roman Catholic nun last December, nearly two decades after she died in Kolkata, in whose teeming slums she devoted her life to helping the destitute and the sick.
Yet criticisms of her has surfaced , with doctors and former volunteers recounting grim tales of poor sanitation, medical neglect and forced conversions of the dying.
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu to Albanian parents in what is now Macedonia, her Missionaries of Charity homes for the dying earned her a Nobel Peace Prize and the sobriquet Saint of the Gutters.
"We feel that Mother Teresa's elevation to sainthood would be a renewed thrust to (her) charitable works," Thomas D'Souza, the Archbishop of Kolkata, told AFP.
Like millions of Catholics worldwide, Gautam Lewis is excited to celebrate the canonisation of the woman he calls his "second mother", who rescued the orphan after he was struck with polio aged two.
"Mother Teresa used to carry me to church every Sunday and she personally supervised my treatment when I underwent surgeries and rehabilitation to get rid of polio," Lewis, now a pilot in London, told AFP.
But Aroup Chatterjee, a British doctor born in the city formerly known as Calcutta, said that "her whole emphasis was propagation of her faith at any cost."
"To convert a dying, unconscious person is very, very low behaviour, very disgusting," the 58-year-old author of a controversial 2003 book on the nun said.
"Mother Teresa did that on an industrial basis."
One of Mother Teresa's most vocal critics, the late British-born author Christopher Hitchens, accused her of exacerbating the plight of the poor with her staunch opposition to contraception and abortion.
Hemley Gonzalez, who started his own NGO in Kolkata as a response to the alleged deficiencies he witnessed when volunteering at Missionaries of Charity eight years ago, calls it "a modern-day cult".
Nuns washed needles with tap water before reusing them, he said, and scolded him for giving terminal patients haircuts because they were going to die anyway.
So, as someone who has always admired Mother Teresa … Is it right that she should get such criticism ?
Mufti, You need to learn Abc of the politics , you will get all the answers ........................... ...........
It is sad that a smear campaign is going on againt Edhi sb in Pakistan. Worst is that it has intensified after his death. Lot of mullahs disliked him.
Dr. Abdul Salam met the same fate despite his great contribution towards Pakistan.
Even Jinnah sb is not spared these days.
It is time for us for introspection .............
brit, I am asking about the society you accuse ...... !!
MM: They are the poor and the sick and they stayed in the slums
That was also true of Abdus Sattar Edhi but his mission looked beyond the boundaries of religion.
Which society , who are they ? ........ Where do they stay ? ..........
True .. From what I googled, Mr Edhi deserves praise also.
I suppose , Mother Teresa did get more publicity. However, her Mission of Charity –cared for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers and all those who were shunned by society at large...
Yes, I too recall. But the funny part is that the topic was from someone who loves and finds enjoyment in giving false hopes to people seeking genuine advice or guidance; who loves to misguide people, and who writes fro the sake of writing whether it makes sense or not with several times his comments forcing one to ROFL. Two of his such hilarious comments were: "The construction of the new Pakistan embassy building would be a burden on the economy;" and "Round ball looks tasty." I am sure more are on the way. They make my day when I get to read them!
While Mother Teresa is being talked about by the world community, there was another person whose service to mankind has gone unnoticed by the international community.The person, Abdul Sattar Edhi began a social welfare organization and helped every human being irrespective of caste, colour, race or religion. People across the country donated generously to his organization as it was apolitical and the funds were used in the most proper way. His honesty was the reason why people from all strata of life trusted him blindly with their donations.
His charitable organization currently has the world's largest ambulance fleet.
Abdul Sattar Edhi passed away recently and was given a state funeral. Possibly, he did not get the international recognition he deserved because he worked selflessly for humanity without seeking rewards or awards for himself -- and not for any religion.
It is funny that people in the 21st century still believe in such rubbish.
I remember the day she passed away, I wept in-front of TV. I was small then, it took my mom half an hour to console me.
Correct ................ ................
She actually did what most of us would like to do , but never get round to it. She deddicated her life to caring for the poor and the sick.... She deserves our praise , not petty jealousies
Exactly ............. ..............
There will always be complainers .. She deserves praise for what she did
Good deeds will always be rewarded .. A fish does not suffer for caring for its eggs
Just look at the positive side to remain peaceful at your heart ..................
We need to look straight at our destination .......... ignore the distractions on the way .....................
There will always be critics. However Humanity should be above all religions!