| Revision as of 14:17, 7 January 2006 editNil Einne (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers73,121 edits →Response to the Criticisms← Previous edit | Revision as of 08:52, 22 January 2006 edit undoAK7 (talk | contribs)123 edits Removing POV paragraph, plus additional POV phrases/wordsNext edit → | ||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
| Mary Louden, who had spent time as a volunteer worker in one of the mission's homes, wrote in ], ] issue of '']'' that the home at ] consisted of two rooms, each with around 40 patients in stretcher beds, sandwiched between pieces of green plastic and small, scratchy blankets. She reported that on admission the patients' heads were shaved, their clothes and any possessions removed. Patients wore only a knee-length western-style overall that tied at the neck and was open at the back. Louden described the food as nutritionally inadequate and unvaried, the water disease-ridden, and the volunteers largely unable to speak ], the local language. Patients were left with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Families were strongly discouraged from visiting their relatives at the home. | Mary Louden, who had spent time as a volunteer worker in one of the mission's homes, wrote in ], ] issue of '']'' that the home at ] consisted of two rooms, each with around 40 patients in stretcher beds, sandwiched between pieces of green plastic and small, scratchy blankets. She reported that on admission the patients' heads were shaved, their clothes and any possessions removed. Patients wore only a knee-length western-style overall that tied at the neck and was open at the back. Louden described the food as nutritionally inadequate and unvaried, the water disease-ridden, and the volunteers largely unable to speak ], the local language. Patients were left with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Families were strongly discouraged from visiting their relatives at the home. | ||
| In one case of a patient who died of ], Louden reported being told by an American doctor working at Kalighat that the patient might have lived if she had received some hospital treatment. Louden described Mother Teresa's policy as one of non-intervention, in which God decided who was to live and who was to die, and people were better off in heaven than in the |
In one case of a patient who died of ], Louden reported being told by an American doctor working at Kalighat that the patient might have lived if she had received some hospital treatment. Louden described Mother Teresa's policy as one of non-intervention, in which God decided who was to live and who was to die, and people were better off in heaven than in the medical theatre. Louden believed that Mother Teresa and her sisters declined to use their influence and income to finance a properly equipped ], instead devoting their efforts to ensure that everyone (regardless of creed) received a good Catholic ]. | ||
| ==Response to the Criticisms== | ==Response to the Criticisms== | ||
| Some admirers of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity have dismissed the above criticisms as an attempt to smear a Catholic icon. According to this view, Mother Teresa lived an exemplary life |
Some admirers of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity have dismissed the above criticisms as an attempt to smear a Catholic icon. According to this view, Mother Teresa lived an exemplary life. Admirers regard Mother Teresa's life as the epitome of faith in action, and her good works allowed the world to witness this faith. Mother Teresa was held in high esteem worldwide, inspiring many to convert to the Catholic faith. | ||
| In this view, the above criticisms were contrived by serveral authors opposed to the spread of Christianity (Christopher Hitchens is considered by many to be |
In this view, the above criticisms were contrived by serveral authors opposed to the spread of Christianity (Christopher Hitchens is considered by many to be anti-religious). The goal of these accusations is to scandalize the image and memory of Mother Teresa, so as to portray religion, and one of religion's best-known figures, in a negative light. However, the substance of the accusations- that money was not used for humanitarian purposes, but rather for religious ones- is rarely disputed. | ||
| Such criticisms as the auspiciously poor condition of health care may stem from cultural misunderstanding. Among some in India there is a conception of karma - the idea that people deserve their pain on the basis of the previous life, and there is no need to help them. The Misionaries of Charity on the other hand strive to help these "poorest of the poor" - people who otherwise die alone on the streets. The Sisters bring not only basic medical treatment, but much more importantly love and care. Opponents of critics of Theresa argue that such critics do so from the comfort of their Western opulence without serving the world's poor with nearly the selflessness that characterized her life. | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 08:52, 22 January 2006
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious order established in 1950 by Nobel Peace Prize (1979) Winner Mother Teresa to tend to the sick and dying, especially, "the poorest of the poor". The order currently consists of over 4,500 nuns and is active in 133 countries. Members of the order designate their affiliation using the order's initials, MC.
In 1990, Mother Teresa asked to resign as head of the Missionaries, but was soon voted back in as Superior General. On March 13, 1997, six months before Mother Teresa's death, Sister M. Nirmala Joshi was selected the new Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity.
Member nuns must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, and the fourth vow, to give "Wholehearted and Free service to the poorest of the poor".
Misionaries take care for abandoned children, lepers, AIDS victims, the aged, and convalescent.
Criticisms
Some critics alleged that Mother Teresa and her followers accepted donations specifically earmarked for the sick and the poor, but that the funds were used for non-charitable purposes, particularly evangelism. Some of these complaints amount to accusations of fraud. Christopher Hitchens documents these controversial accusations in his book, The Missionary Position.
The Missionaries of Charity do not disclose either the sources of their funds or details of how they are spent. A 1998 article in the popular German Stern weekly quoted a witness account according to which the order received about US$50 million a year in donations on its New York account alone. Other journalists have given estimates of US$100 million a year for its global operations. Critics have argued that these sums far exceed the modest needs of the order, which offers little medical help and is staffed by nuns and volunteers. Furthermore, volunteers have stated that they were specifically instructed not to use the money to purchase medical equipment.
Critics have maintained that the majority of the money donated to the order is transferred to the Istituto per Opere Religiosi (colloquially known as the Vatican Bank) in Rome, where it is used by the Catholic Church for its general purposes, or is transferred to non-Christian countries for missionary work. Susan Shields, a former employee of the Missionaries of Charity in the United States, alleged that even when donors explicitly marked money as, for example, "for the hungry in Ethiopia", she was instructed not to send the money to Africa, while still writing receipts with the text "For Ethiopia".
In the United Kingdom, where the law requires charitable organisations to disclose their expenditures, an audit in 1991 concluded that only 7% of the total income of about US$2.6 million went into charitable spending, with the rest being remitted to the Vatican Bank.
Another former Missionary of Charity worker, Eva Kolodziej, has said: "You should visit the House in New York, then you'll understand what happens to donations. In the cellar of the homeless shelter there are valuable books, jewellery and gold. What happens to them? The sisters receive them with smiles, and keep them. Most of these lie around uselessly forever." The implication was one of mismanagement of donations and a failure to turn non-financial donations into liquid assets for use in looking after the poor.
Mary Louden, who had spent time as a volunteer worker in one of the mission's homes, wrote in May 3, 1992 issue of The Guardian that the home at Kalighat consisted of two rooms, each with around 40 patients in stretcher beds, sandwiched between pieces of green plastic and small, scratchy blankets. She reported that on admission the patients' heads were shaved, their clothes and any possessions removed. Patients wore only a knee-length western-style overall that tied at the neck and was open at the back. Louden described the food as nutritionally inadequate and unvaried, the water disease-ridden, and the volunteers largely unable to speak Bengali, the local language. Patients were left with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Families were strongly discouraged from visiting their relatives at the home.
In one case of a patient who died of tuberculosis, Louden reported being told by an American doctor working at Kalighat that the patient might have lived if she had received some hospital treatment. Louden described Mother Teresa's policy as one of non-intervention, in which God decided who was to live and who was to die, and people were better off in heaven than in the medical theatre. Louden believed that Mother Teresa and her sisters declined to use their influence and income to finance a properly equipped hospital, instead devoting their efforts to ensure that everyone (regardless of creed) received a good Catholic funeral.
Response to the Criticisms
Some admirers of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity have dismissed the above criticisms as an attempt to smear a Catholic icon. According to this view, Mother Teresa lived an exemplary life. Admirers regard Mother Teresa's life as the epitome of faith in action, and her good works allowed the world to witness this faith. Mother Teresa was held in high esteem worldwide, inspiring many to convert to the Catholic faith.
In this view, the above criticisms were contrived by serveral authors opposed to the spread of Christianity (Christopher Hitchens is considered by many to be anti-religious). The goal of these accusations is to scandalize the image and memory of Mother Teresa, so as to portray religion, and one of religion's best-known figures, in a negative light. However, the substance of the accusations- that money was not used for humanitarian purposes, but rather for religious ones- is rarely disputed.
External links
- Vatican - Letter by Pope John Paul II on the 50th anniversary of the order, in the year 2000
- Eternal Word Television Network - History of the order and bio of Sister Nirmala
- Frontline - Mother Teresa of Calcutta article
- Mother Teresa biography at the Nobel Prize foundation site has some information on the history and activities of the Misssionaries of Charity.