Blessed Mother Teresa (1910–97) was a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata. She had moved to Kolkata (previously known as Calcutta) in 1928 to work as a teacher, but became increasingly concerned by the poverty she saw all around her in the Indian city. She took her vows as a nun and undertook some medical training. Together with the other sisters of the Order she dedicated her life to caring for the poor and needy, particularly in Kolkata and elsewhere in India. Mother Teresa was widely recognized for her work, which had extended worldwide by the time of her death in 1997.

Agnes Bojaxhiu

Mother Teresa’s birth name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She was born on 26th August 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia, the youngest of three children. Her family were ethnic Albanians and devout Roman Catholics living in a largely Muslim Serb region. Her father died when she was nine. Through her involvement with her local church group, the young Agnes became interested in missionary work. In 1928 she travelled to Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to learn English. There she took the name Sister Mary Teresa after St Thérèse of Lisieux. Only a few weeks later she travelled to India to work as a teacher in Kolkata.

A call from God

Mother Teresa took her vows as a nun in 1937. She continued to work at the school for many years, becoming principal in 1944. But she was increasingly concerned by the poverty she saw all around her in Kolkata. On a train journey to Darjeeling, she believed that she heard the call of God telling her to leave the school and live among the poor, devoting herself to caring for the sick and needy. In 1948 she moved into the slums of Kolkata, replacing her nun’s dress with a simple white cotton sari. She received some medical training, and set up a school. She was soon joined by a number of her former students, and in 1950 established the Order of the Missionaries of Charity as part of the Diocese of Kolkata.

Worldwide care

In 1952, Mother Teresa opened a hospice, Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart, in Kolkata. This was a place where people with terminal illnesses who had nowhere else to go could come to die in dignity and peace. She also set up a centre for people suffering from leprosy, as well as homes to care for the blind, elderly and disabled. During the 1960s, the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity opened more centres across India, and in 1965 the first home outside India was founded in Venezuela. It was soon followed by others in Italy, Tanzania and Austria, and in many other countries during the 1970s.

In 1985, Mother Teresa opened "Gift of Love" house in New York, the first of several refuges for patients suffering from HIV/AIDS. The work of her foundations also extended to help drug addicts, prostitutes, orphans, battered women and the homeless. She travelled to Ethiopia during the famine of 1984, to Chernobyl after the nuclear disaster in 1986, and to Armenia to help earthquake victims in 1988.

Honours

Mother Teresa gained worldwide acclaim for her work, and she was awarded with many honours. The Indian government had recognized her contribution in 1962 with the Padmi Shri, one of its highest civilian honours. In 1971, Pope Paul awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. And in 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. On that occasion she asked the grand gala dinner to celebrate the occasion be cancelled, and the money given instead to the poor of Kolkata.

Critics and legacy

Mother Teresa was not without her critics, however. Her strong condemnation of divorce, abortion and contraception angered many, and there were accusations that the medical care offered at her hospices in India was of a low standard. In her later years, Mother Teresa herself suffered from ill health and a heart condition eventually forced her retirement in 1997. By the time of her death on 5th September 1997, Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity numbered over 4000 sisters, with hundreds of houses in countries all over the world. In addition, the sisters were helped by hundreds of thousands of lay-workers.

Mother Teresa was given a state funeral by the Indian government. The Roman Catholic Church soon began the process of declaring her a saint, and she was beatified in 2003. She was canonized (recognized by the Church as a saint) by Pope Francis at a ceremony on 4th September 2016 in St Peter's Square in Vatican City. She is now known as St Teresa.