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'{{Short description|Mother Teresa's organization}} {{EngvarB|date=February 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} {{Infobox organization | image = MotherTeresa 090.jpg | caption = [[Mother Teresa|Saint Teresa]], founder and patron saint of the Missionaries of Charity. | motto = | formation = {{start date and age|1950}} | type = Centralized Religious Institute of Consecrated Life of Pontifical Right (for Women) | headquarters = 54/a Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, Kolkata 700016, India | leader_title = Superior general | leader_name = Sr. Mary Prema Pierick, M.C. | main_organ = | name = Missionaries of Charity | native_name = Missionariarum a Caritate | size = | abbreviation = M.C. | founder = [[Mother Teresa]] | website = {{url|motherteresa.org}} | membership = 5,167 members (2020) }} [[File:Sisters of Charity.jpg|thumb|upright|Sisters belonging to Missionaries of Charity in their attire of traditional white [[sari]] with blue border.]] The '''Missionaries of Charity''' ({{lang-la|Missionariarum a Caritate}}) is a [[Catholic]] ([[Latin Church]]) [[religious congregation]] established in 1950 by [[Mother Teresa]], now known in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. In 2020 it consisted of 5,167 [[religious sister]]s. Members of the order designate their affiliation using the order's initials, "M.C." A member of the congregation must adhere to the [[religious vows|vows]] of [[chastity, poverty, obedience]], and the fourth vow, to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor."<ref>Muggeridge (1971) chapter 3, ''Mother Teresa Speaks'', pp. 105, 113.</ref> Today, the order consists of both contemplative and active branches in several countries. Missionaries care for those who include [[refugee]]s, former [[prostitution|prostitutes]], the [[mentally ill]], sick children, [[abandoned children]], [[leper]]s, people with AIDS, the [[aged]], and [[convalescent]]. They have schools that are run by volunteers to teach abandoned [[street children]] and run [[soup kitchens]] as well as other services according to the community needs. These services are provided, without charge, to people regardless of their religion or social status. ==History== [[File: Missionaries of Charity Mother House.jpg|thumbnail|upright|Missionaries of Charity's Mother House (Headquarters) in [[Kolkata]]]] On October 7, 1950,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_madre-teresa_en.html |title=Mother Teresa of Calcutta |work=vatican.va |publisher=Vatican}}</ref> [[Mother Teresa]] and the small community formed by her former pupils was labelled as the ''Diocesan Congregation of the Calcutta Diocese'', and thus received the permission from the Diocese of Calcutta to identify as a Catholic organization. Their mission was to care for (in Mother Teresa's words) "the hungry, the naked, the [[homeless]], the crippled, the blind, the [[Leprosy|lepers]], all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone." It began as a small community with 12 members in Calcutta (now Kolkata), and in 2020 had 5,167 members serving in 139 countries in 760 homes, with 244 of these homes in India.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mother Teresa nuns face probe over funding allegations - UCA News|url=https://www.ucanews.com/news/mother-teresa-nuns-face-probe-over-funding-allegations/85463|website=ucanews.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> The sisters run orphanages, homes for those dying of AIDS, charity centres worldwide, and care for refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless and victims of floods, epidemics and famine in [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[Latin America]], [[North America]], [[Europe]] and [[Australia]]. They have 19 homes in [[Kolkata]] (Calcutta) alone which include homes for women, orphaned children and homes for the dying; a school for street children, and a [[leper colony]]. In 1963, Brother Andrew (formerly Ian Travers-Ballan) founded the Missionary Brothers of Charity in Australia along with Mother Teresa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cathnews.acu.edu.au/010/51.html |title=Australian Founder of Missionary Brothers of Charity Dies |work=Cathnews.acu.edu.au |publisher=Catholic Online |date=2000-10-13 |accessdate=2011-12-22}}</ref> In 1965, by granting a Decree of Praise, [[Pope Paul VI]] granted Mother Teresa's request to expand her congregation to other countries. The Congregation started to grow rapidly, with new homes opening all over the globe. The congregation's first house outside India was in [[Venezuela]], others followed in [[Rome]] and [[Tanzania]] and worldwide. In 1979 the contemplative branch of the Brothers was added and in 1984 a priest branch, the Missionaries of Charity Fathers,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html |title=Mother Teresa&nbsp;– Biography |work=Nobelprize.org |publisher=Nobel Media AB |accessdate=2011-06-09}}</ref> was founded by Mother Teresa with Fr. Joseph Langford, combining the vocation of the Missionaries of Charity with the [[Presbyterate|Ministerial Priesthood]]. As with the Sisters, the Fathers live a very simple lifestyle without television, radios or items of convenience. They neither smoke nor drink alcohol and beg for their food. They make a visit to their families every five years but do not take annual holidays.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mcpriests.com/01_who.htm |title=Missionaries of Charity Fathers website: Who we are |access-date=7 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001132447/http://www.mcpriests.com/01_who.htm |archive-date=1 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Laity|Lay Catholics]] and non-Catholics constitute the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity. The first home of the Missionaries of Charity in the [[United States]] was established in the [[The Bronx|South Bronx]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=At least 15 dead from coronavirus in NY religious orders|url=https://www.thecatholictelegraph.com/covid-19-religious-orders-death/65705|last=Agency|first=Catholic News|website=Catholic Telegraph|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> [[New York (state)|New York]], where they now have convents for both their active and contemplative branches.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cardinal Prays at Burial of Two Missionaries of Charity|url=http://www.cny.org/stories/cardinal-prays-at-burial-of-two-missionaries-of-charity,20996|website=Catholic New York|language=en|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> In the USA, the Missionaries of Charity are affiliated with the [[Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious]], a body of female religious, representing 20% of American religious sisters. They are identified by the wearing of religious habits, and loyalty to church teaching. By 1996, the organisation was operating 517 missions in more than 100 countries.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Missionaries of Charity|url=https://www.motherteresa.org/missionaries-of-charity.html|website=www.motherteresa.org|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> 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 Nirmala|Sister Mary Nirmala Joshi]] was elected the new Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity. In April 2009 Sister [[Mary Prema]] was elected to succeed Sister Nirmala, during a [[general chapter]] held in Kolkata.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zenit.org/article-25481?l=english|title=German Elected to Lead Missionaries of Charity|publisher=[[Zenit News Agency]]|date=2009-03-25|accessdate=2009-03-26|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6IAsNFbkG?url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/german-elected-to-lead-missionaries-of-charity|archive-date=17 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The quality of care offered to terminally ill patients in the Home for the Dying in Calcutta was the subject of discussion in the mid-1990s. Some British observers, on the basis of short visits, drew unfavourable comparisons with the standard of care available in [[hospice]]s in the United Kingdom. Remarks made by Dr. Robin Fox relative to the lack of full-time medically-trained personnel and the absence of strong [[analgesic]]s were published in a brief memoir in an issue of ''[[The Lancet]]'' in 1994. These remarks were criticised in a later issue of ''[[The Lancet]]'' on the ground that they failed to take account of Indian conditions, specifically the fact that government regulations effectively precluded the use of morphine outside large hospitals.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Robin Fox|title=Mother Theresa's care for the dying|journal=[[The Lancet]]|volume= 344|issue=8925|pages=807–808|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(94)92353-1}}; ''cf''. "Mother Teresa's care for the dying," letters from David Jeffrey, Joseph O'Neill and Gilly Burns, ''[[The Lancet]]'' 344 (8929): 1098</ref> In [[Phoenix, Arizona]], the sisters' accommodation for 40 homeless men is funded by a clothier, featured in [[British Vogue|Vogue]], who grew up within a few blocks of Mother Teresa's original home for the dying destitute in [[Kalighat]], Calcutta.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pax Philomena — local clothing brand with ties to Mother Teresa — spreads joy|url=https://azbigmedia.com/lifestyle/pax-philomena-local-clothing-brand-with-ties-to-mother-teresa-spreads-joy/|last=Blufish|date=2020-05-14|website=AZ Big Media|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> [[Princess diana|Princess Diana]], who was very close to Mother Teresa, wrote that she found in her "the direction I've been searching for all these years".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paul Burrell shares unseen note Princess Diana wrote to him|url=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8306801/Paul-Burrell-shares-unseen-note-Princess-Diana-wrote-him.html|last=Rach|first=Jessica|date=2020-05-11|website=Mail Online|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> ===Violence against missionaries=== In July 1998 in [[Al Hudaydah]], [[Yemen]], three Missionaries of Charity, two [[Indian people|Indians]] and a [[Filipinos|Filipina]], were shot and killed as they left a hospital.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/05/southern_arabia_bishop_mc_nuns_killed_for_religious_motives/1213360 |title=Southern Arabia bishop: MC nuns killed for religious motives |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=5 March 2016 |publisher=Vatican Radio |access-date=29 March 2016 |quote=In July 1998, a gunman shot and killed three Missionaries of Charity, as they left a hospital in the city of Al Hudaydah. Two of them were Indians while the third was a Filipina.}}</ref> In March 2016 in [[Aden]], [[Yemen]], sixteen people were shot and killed in a home for the elderly operated by the Missionaries of Charity. Among the dead were four missionary sisters: Sisters Marguerite and Reginette from [[Rwanda]], Sister Anselm from [[India]] and Sister Judit from [[Kenya]]. According to Bishop [[Paul Hinder]] of the [[Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Southern Arabia|Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia]], their superior escaped harm by hiding. Bishop Hinder described the attack as "religiously-motivated". A [[Salesians of Don Bosco|Salesian]] [[Syro-Malabar]] priest who was living at the facility, Fr. [[Tom Uzhunnalil]] of [[Bangalore]], [[India]], was taken prisoner by the attackers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Southern Arabia bishop: MC nuns killed for religious motives|url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/05/southern_arabia_bishop_mc_nuns_killed_for_religious_motives/1213360|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|first=|date=5 March 2016|website=en.radiovaticana.va|publisher=Vatican Radio|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=29 March 2016|quote=According to Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia that has jurisdiction over Yemen, the massacre of 16 people by gunmen at the old people’s home run by the Missionaries of Charity in Aden is 'religiously-motivated'. ...The nun victims are Sisters Marguerite and Reginette from Rwanda, Anselm from India and Judit from Kenya. The superior survived by finding a hiding place, Bishop Hinder said, adding now she is in a safe place. ...The attackers also seized Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, an Indian Salesian missionary from Bangalore Province, who lived at the facility.}}</ref> On [[Good Friday]], March 25, 2016, several media outlets reported that Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was [[Crucifixion|crucified]] by the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]]. However, Bishop Hinder indicated he had strong indications that the priest was alive and still being held by his captors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/blog/fate-of-kidnapped-fr-tom-uzhannil-remains-unknown/ |title=There is no confirmation that Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was crucified on Good Friday |last=Rezac |first=Mary |date=28 March 2016 |publisher=Catholic News Agency |access-date=29 March 2016 |quote=Bishop Paul Hinder of Southern Arabia (a region in Saudi Arabia, the country just north of Yemen where Fr. Uzhunnalil was kidnapped), told CNA on Monday that he has 'strong indications that Fr. Tom is still alive in the hands of the kidnappers,' but could not give further information in order to protect the life of the priest.}}</ref> In early September 2017 Fr. Uzhunnalil was rescued after 18 months in captivity, and first sent to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/fr-tom-to-pope-francis-i-offered-my-suffering-for-you-and-the-church-74095/ |title=Fr. Tom to Pope Francis: I offered my suffering for you and the Church|publisher=Catholic News Agency}}</ref> ==Becoming a Missionary of Charity== {{Refimprove|date=May 2019}} It takes nine years to become a full-fledged Missionary of Charity. An initial short-term "come-and-see" period is available. Those considered possible candidates by the Congregation may enter Aspirancy, focused on learning English (which is the community language) for those who are not from [[English language|English-speaking]] countries and religious studies. It is followed by [[Postulancy]] (introduction into the study of [[Bible|Scripture]], the Constitutions of the Society, [[History of Christianity|Church history]], and [[theology]]). If found suitable, they enter the Novitiate, the beginning of the religious life. [[Novice]]s wear white cotton habits with a girdle, and white saris without the three blue stripes. In the first year (called canonical), they undertake more religious study and learn about life as a Missionary of Charity, the second year is more focused on practical training for the mission life. After two years, they take temporary vows for one year, which are renewed annually, for five years in total. They also receive the blue striped [[sari]] of the Congregation, and a metal crucifix. In the sixth year, they travel to [[Rome]], Kolkata or Washington D.C. for "Tertianship", further religious study, at the end of which they make their final profession. ===Material goods=== A sister's few possessions include: three saris (one to wear, one to wash, one to mend),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/10/forbes-india-mother-teresa-charity-critical-public-review.html|title=Pointing Fingers At Mother Teresa's Heirs|last=Thomas|first=Prince Mathews|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-11-22|language=en}}</ref> two or three cotton habits, a girdle, a pair of sandals, a crucifix, and a rosary. They also have a plate, a set of cutlery, a cloth napkin, a canvas bag, and a prayer book. In cold countries, sisters may own a cardigan and other articles suited to the local climate such as a coat, scarf, and closed shoes. ==Criticism== {{main|Criticism of Mother Teresa}} [[File:Nirmal Hriday, Calcutta.jpg|thumb|Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying in Kolkata]] A British former volunteer at the Home, Robin Fox (now editor of the British medical journal ''[[The Lancet]]'') objected that syringes were rinsed in cold water and reused; that inmates were given cold baths; and that aspirin was administered to people with terminal cancer.<ref name=Fox>{{cite journal |author=Fox, Robin |title=Mother Teresa's care for the dying |journal=The Lancet |volume=344 |issue=8925 |pages=807–808 |year=1994 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(94)92353-1}}</ref> Fox also noted, however, that the residents were "eating heartily and doing well", and that the sisters and volunteers focused on cleanliness, tending wounds and sores, and providing loving kindness.<ref>Loudon, Mary (6 January 1996). "The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, Book Review", ''[[BMJ]]'' vol. 312, no. 7022, 6 January 1996, pp.64–5. Retrieved December 30, 2011. She claimed in her review that Fox had seen those practices; but he made no reference to them in his article</ref> The controversy remains due to the charity's not sterilizing needles and failing to make proper diagnoses, as put by Dr. Jack Preger, "If one wants to give love, understanding and care, one uses sterile needles."<ref name="hin2019">{{cite web |last1=Krishnan |first1=Madhuvanti S. |title=Healing touch |url=https://www.thehindu.com/children/healing-touch/article17515324.ece |website=The Hindu |accessdate=9 June 2019}}</ref> In 2018 all child care homes in India run by the Missionaries of Charity were inspected by the Ministry of Women and Child Development following allegations that two staff members at a Jharkhand home sold babies for adoption. A sister and a social worker employed there were arrested. Sister Konsalia Balsa and social worker Anima Indwar were accused of having already sold three babies from the home, which provides shelter for pregnant, unmarried women, and of trying to sell a boy baby for roughly £1325.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/17/india-inspection-missionaries-of-charity-homes-mother-teresa|title=All Mother Teresa homes inspected amid baby-selling scandal|last=Safi|first=Michael|date=2018-07-17|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-11-22}}</ref> The Missionaries of Charity had discontinued its participation in adoption services in India three years earlier over religious objections to the country's new adoption rules.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mother Teresa's Missionaries Of Charity Says No More Adoptions In India|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/09/447191942/mother-teresas-missionaries-of-charity-says-no-more-adoptions-in-india|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref><section end="Criticism" of="" the="" historical="" catholic="" church="" transclusion="" /> == References == {{Reflist|30em}} ==Further reading== *{{Cite book |author1=González-Balado, José Luis |author2=Teresa |title=Mother Teresa: in my own words |publisher=Gramercy Book |location=New York |year=1997 |isbn=0-517-20169-0 |oclc= |url=https://archive.org/details/inmyownwords00tere }} *{{Cite book |author=[[Brian Kolodiejchuk]]; Mother Teresa |title=Mother Teresa: come be my light: the private writings of the "Saint of Calcutta" |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, N.Y |year=2007 |isbn=0-385-52037-9 |oclc= |url=https://archive.org/details/comebemylightpri00tere }} *[[Malcolm Muggeridge|Muggeridge, Malcolm]]. ''Something Beautiful for God.'' London: Collins, 1971. {{ISBN|0-06-066043-0}}. *[[Christopher Hitchens]]: ''[[The Missionary Position (book)|The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice]]'' (Verso, 1995) {{ISBN|1-85984-054-X}}. Plus a debate in the ''New York Review of Books'': [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1434 Defense of Mother Teresa], [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1310 Hitchens' answer], [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1298 Leys' reply]. *{{cite book |title=An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life |author=Mary Johnson |isbn=978-0385527477 |year=2011 |url=https://archive.org/details/unquenchablethir00john }} == External links == *[http://www.motherteresa.org/ Mother Teresa Of Calcutta Center] *[http://www.mcbrothers.org Missionaries of Charity Brothers (active branch)] *[http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html Mother Teresa biography] at the [[Nobel Prize]] foundation site has some information on the history and activities of the Missionaries of Charity. *[http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/teresa01.html Time Magazine 100 Most Important People of the Century] *[http://www.ewtn.com/library/PRIESTS/NIRMALA.HTM Eternal Word Television Network]—History of the order and bio of Sister Nirmala *[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_20001017_missionaries-charity_en.html Letter by Pope John Paul II on the 50th anniversary of the order in 2000] * [http://www.wimklerkx.nl/EN/PROJECTS/TV.html Teresa's volunteers]—Photo document on volunteers working at Nirmal Hriday in Calcutta, by photographer Wim Klerkx, 1998 * [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/world/asia/26iht-26calcutta.8073173.html "Volunteering for Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity", ''New York Times''] -one volunteer's experience] {{Catholic congregation}} {{Adopt}} {{Kolkata topics}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Missionaries Of Charity}} [[Category:Incidents of anti-Catholic violence]] [[Category:Mother Teresa]] [[Category:Catholic missionary orders]] [[Category:Organisations based in Kolkata]] [[Category:Christian organizations established in 1950]] [[Category:Catholic religious institutes established in the 20th century]] [[Category:Catholic charities]] [[Category:1950 establishments in Asia]] [[Category:Founders of Indian schools and colleges]]'