I’m not sure you really know what hearsay is, Ockham.
Really? Well, here’s what I know this morning. I’m sure you’ll attempt to correct me if you believe I’m wrong. After spending some time Googling this subject there does not seem to be a consensus on whether Mother Theresa actually said the words attributed to her.
From the Sisters of Charity site (bold font mine):
*"Mother Teresa would not have contradicted the Church. On the mode of receiving Holy Communion, she wrote to her sisters: “This is like the permission of the Bishops given some years ago for receiving Holy Communion in the hand. It is allowed, but not an order, … as M.C.s, we have chosen to receive Holy Communion on the tongue. If questioned about [it], do not enter into discussion – “let every spirit praise the Lord” – but let us pray that all be done for the greater glory of God and the good of the Church.”
You quoted “Wherever I go in the whole world, the thing that makes me the saddest is watching people receive Communion in the hand.”
This statement does not seem authentic to us. We have never heard Mother Teresa saying these words nor read them in her writings." *
motherteresa.org/08_info/ReceivingC.html
So what does this tell us? Anonymously, someone speaking on behalf of the entire order claims the quote “does not seem authentic” and because she never heard Mother Teresa make such a statement it must be false.
Not exactly a definitive proof, would you agree?
Then there is the origin of the quote itself. One Father George William Rutler gave a sermon on Good Friday, 1989 in St. Agnes Church, New York City where he said Mother Teresa in answer to the question, ‘what makes you the saddest’ said: ‘Wherever I go in the whole world, the thing that makes me the saddest is watching people receive Communion in the hand.’"
There are many sites that post this quote as authentic but I’ve yet to find something official such as a transcript from the church’s archives.
At this point it’s interesting to note that although Mother Teresa may not have made this quote she did make COTT the norm for her order. Combine that with our current pontiff doing the same when he distributes Holy Communion and I think every Catholic should ask themselves who’s example they’d rather follow: Mother Teresa or someone like Bishop Weakland.