Mother was for immediate relief of poor, neglected: Reaseachers
By IANSThursday, August 26, 2010
KOLKATA - Mother Teresa believed in providing immediate relief to the poor and wanted to rub off the sufferings of the deprived and ailing, say researchers, rubbishing the claim that she was more interested in increasing the spectrum of her Missionaries of Charity order than eradicating poverty.
“What I feel is that Mother Teresa believed in providing immediate relief to the poor and the neglected. She wanted to reach out to the poor as she wanted to remove their sufferings. And I don’t agree with the point that she was more interested in increasing the spectrum of Missionaries of Charity rather than eradicating poverty,” said Father Brian, a researcher on the Nobel Laureate who dedicated her life to the poor, infirm, abandoned and the old.
Father Brian has written several books and articles on Mother Teresa’s life and message.
Despite getting accolades for its humanitarian work, the Missionaries of Charity has drawn flak from some quarters.
“She was ordinary, down to earth and she always used to walk her talk. But she became extraordinary for her works, her message. She was a motherly figure in the true sense,” added Father Brian.
“I feel she reached out to the poor to relieve them of their sufferings. She shared the sufferings of the ailing. She didn’t believe in political slogans like ‘eradicate poverty’ or something like that.
“She wanted to make the poor feel that he or she is also a human being. She wanted to spread love and peace,” said Father George Pattery, another researcher on Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa arrived in Kolkata in 1929. Years later, she took Indian citizenship and left the convent with the church’s nod to serve the poor and the ailing.
She set up Missionaries of Charity in 1950 at 14, Creek Lane, but shifted to the Mother House in 1953 as her order expanded.
Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and given India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. The Missionaries of Charity now comprises over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries.
It runs homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also conducts children and family counselling programmes and runs orphanages and schools.
