Did Mother Teresa secretly convert the poor? Looking for counters to the claim

[Throw123]

I am sorry English is not my first language. This is a idiom I use, just means “people other than me”.

 

[Throw123]

I am a Catholic, but more than that I am Indian who have met so many people who have witnessed the power of Teresa.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Then I might gently suggest you put your religion as Catholic in your profile.
Christianity usually suggests a Protestant.

 

[Throw123]

No need to be so hostile, I am not looking to insult anyone. Open conversation is not a sin.

 

[Irishmom2]

I said nothing hostile. I said we do not listen to nonsense from people looking to discredit a saint.
If you love her, that’s great.

 

[Peaceable]

If there was some kind of forcible conversion in this specific context , (and I have no clue if there was or wasn’t, since I don’t know really much about Mother Theresa ) the Hindus that I knew (bear in mind this is a very small number ) who grew up in Kolkata around that time would have said “Who am I to object to a ‘forcible conversion’ (in that context), at least she was taking care of them!” (I.e., if she’s doing something charitable and nobody else is stepping up to the plate, then they have no business criticizing her.). In fact, I’ve heard someone say exactly this.

They would be less excited about this happening in some other contexts though.

As an aside, most Hindus don’t object to conversion as long as it’s done voluntarily in good faith. The objection many of those have to conversion attempts (some, not all) in India, is that it either seems like it’s not in good faith, or often involves a misrepresentation of Hinduism to proceed.

Hindus are pretty used to their belief system being misrepresented all over the place, but is particularly frustrating in the country of its origin.

Also the laws are different there, so the church state separation that people take for granted in the west doesn’t exist there for Hinduism specifically, though it exists for other faiths in India.

So, for instance, you’ll have people of other faiths (or who are atheistic)making decisions about what happens in terms of temple policy, which in the west would be seen as a church issue. Whereas this wouldn’t happen for any other faith tradition in India. Hence people are upset for political reasons.

 

[graciew]

I found these for you.

BEATIFICATION OF MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II

World Mission Sunday
Sunday, 19 October 2003

http://www.vatican.va/content/john-...nts/hf_jp-ii_hom_20031019_mother-theresa.html

HOLY MASS AND CANONIZATION OF BLESSED
MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA
JUBILEE FOR WORKERS OF MERCY AND VOLUNTEERS

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Saint Peter’s Square
Sunday, 4 September 2016

http://www.vatican.va/content/franc...60904_omelia-canonizzazione-madre-teresa.html

I thought it may enrich he paper you’re writing and help find the answers you are looking for.
She was a daughter of the Church and an extraordinary one.
St Mother Teresa, pray for us
All the best

 

[Peaceable]

OK, if she denied it, then I suppose it’s reasonable to assume that she was telling the truth.

 

[JanR]

Perhaps using the term “ticket to St. Peter” was her way of putting the language in the simplest, easiest to understand form, as someone who is dying might not have the full mental capacity to comprehend a more elaborate explanation. This sounds like a casually vernacular term that someone in ordinary conversation might use, and that may have been the best way for her to communicate with them. They may not have had enough time to delve into more deeply into the faith, as many of them were probably very close to death.

That’s my take on it.

 

[otjm]

What good would her material aid have been if those people still died without Christ and potentially went to hell?

what good you ask: God gave each and every one of us free will; and ultimately it is that exercise of free will that makes that decision. We cannot judge the status of a soul based on how they reacted to material good or did not react to it.

If Mother Theresa did good - gave alms to the poor, treated them with the dignity of a child of God - that is her act of free will.

How someone else acts towards her acts is between them and God and does not detract from her good act.

And we do not know that they died without Christ; even the bible shows us where baptism with water was not necessary; see the passage of the Good Thief on Calvary.

Whether they died with or without Christ we will not know until our turn comes - and the issue is between God and them, not with our curiosity or questioning.