St Mother Theresa criticism - Looking for Catholic response

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WillPhillips said:
that media coverage of Mother Teresa should have been more rigourous
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I do agree that portrayal of St Mother Theresa should be more nuanced, reflecting her struggles and critiques, as I think it results in a more enriched image of the saint in the 20th century. So much often it tends towards the one-dimensional: either ‘saint without spot’ or ‘saint she ain’t’.

I do feel that many critiques focussed on her practice tend to operate from assumptions that were quite alien to St MT:
(1) Her understanding of suffering as unitive to Christ’s passion through which our dignity can be enhanced.
(2) Her work as evangelistic.
(3) Her application of orthodox Catholic teachings on abortion, contraception and such.

In a lot of ways, when I read a lot of the literature, it feels that many criticisms are predicated on the assumption that St MT was establishing a secular healthcare institution and therefore she ought to be accountable as the CEO of such an organisation For example, the academic article which you cited, ‘Les côtés ténébreux de Mère Teresa’ in Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses, largely gives that impression.

But I think’s a rather significant misunderstanding of what canonisation recognises, who saints are, and what it means for Christians to fulfill their universal vocation of holiness.
 
If the OP posts a Mother Teresa quote - presumably something inspirational - and Person A responds with a lot of unsourced vitriolic criticism, half of which lacks context/ doesn’t make sense, then it’s a sign that Person A is disrespectful of OP’s faith, is rude, and is bitter and angry given that Mother Teresa did a lot of good for a lot of people, has been deceased for quite a while, and is a canonized saint.

Canonized means that the Church has decided that she is in Heaven. It’s my understanding that canonization is also an infallible judgment of the Pope.

Yes, Person A is bitter and angry and disrespectful IMHO. The Church is not going to un-canonize Mother Teresa. Her saintliness is not in question; it’s not a matter for debate such as whether the President is a good person or not.

As Catholics, we aren’t required to debate everything, and there’s a point beyond which people slinging criticism are quite simply out of line. It’s okay for us to say so and think so. We don’t have to just accept every far-fetched, overreactive criticism as some valid opinion to which we need to respond.

Now perhaps if Person A had reacted with a polite question such as, “I see you posted a Mother Teresa quote and, while I understand your religion regards her as a saint, I’ve always been troubled by _________ (insert a polite statement of what bothers them). I’d be interested in hearing your views on this.” That sort of respectful query might be something to respond to - but not a bunch of addled, angry spew.
 
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In general I think charitable organisations of all sorts working in medicine in third world countries should provide a high level of evidence-based care to an acceptable standard. Sometimes this will not be possible and those who try to maintain or improve services should be supported. I have no problem with St Mother Theresa, if that is how she is properly referred to, meeting and taking money from bad people or going to the doctor herself when ill. But I think running a hospice with minimal provision for pain relief and a severe shortage of staff trained in palliative care was at best unwise. I believe things improved over the years but I doubt there would be approval from Church authorities for a similarly poorly-equipped effort today. Rather I think it likely resources would go into getting appropriate funding from international organisations. This is, I imagine, why the Church is a big supporter of international aid efforts.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
If the OP posts a Mother Teresa quote - presumably something inspirational - and Person A responds with a lot of unsourced vitriolic criticism, half of which lacks context/ doesn’t make sense, then it’s a sign that Person A is disrespectful of OP’s faith, is rude, and is bitter and angry given that Mother Teresa did a lot of good for a lot of people, has been deceased for quite a while, and is a canonized saint.
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It was a Pro-life quote: “If we accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill each other? Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, rather, to use violence to get what they want.”
― Mother Theresa
 
Guest1 said:
“If we accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill each other?
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This is a classic ‘begging the question’ statement. People who think of abortion of ‘a mother killing her child’ don’t support abortion.
 
Well, that explains why the person went off like they did. If Mother Teresa had been pro-abortion then probably the person wouldn’t have a problem with her. People get very emotional about preserving the right for women to kill their babies. Sad.
 
WillPhillips said:
Her saintly reputation was gained for aiding Kolkata’s poorest of the poor, yet it was undercut by persistent allegations of misuse of funds, poor medical treatments and religious evangelism in the institutions she founded.”
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“Allegations” of religious evangelism?
This tells more about the journal than about her.
 
It’s a bit baffling to me that anyone would apparently expect a Catholic saint to NOT be doing “religious evangelism”.
 
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I wonder if it is a misunderstanding of canonization. It means that the person in their life did practise heroic virtue and is in Heaven. It does not mean at all a faultless or perfect person and life. We are all going to be in need of God’s Mercy at Judgement even the greatest of our saints. Only Jesus and His mother were without sin.
I am never surprised at some sin or fault in those who are canonised and practised heroic virtue in their life, to me it speaks powerfully of the Loving Mercy of Jesus and what He can and does do in so many lives regardless of their failings.
 
Why?

I mean, what state were they in when nobody was taking care of them and compare them to after somebody was taking care of them.

Either they were better off or they weren’t.

Surely somebody must have kept a record.
 
MasterHaster said:
Better off” is difficult to assess given the circumstances
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Of course it is.

But it’s perfectly logical to cast aspersions on Mother Theresa.

I’m out until somebody brings a better class of scam to the table
 
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dontyou think Mother Therese welcomed going to be with God and by herself was not concerned with prolonging her own life here except that she had a responsibility to so many others, and had to carry out her duties for God here and had to seek medical care to get back to work.?
 
The reality is the St Mother Teresa took people who had never been inside, who had lived on the streets their entire lives, and who were dying, and brought them into a place where they were cleaned and fed and cared for. She did this irrespective of their religion and did not require them to convert, altho some did convert from the Hinduism which had doomed them to a life of utter poverty on the streets.

In her own arms, she picked up people who had never bathed, who had open, stinking sores, who were dying, and brought them in to care for them in the short time they had left on earth.

How many of us would do that? And of those few of us who would, how many would do so precisely because of her example?
 
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She had the “gift of helps” given by the Holy Spirit See 1cor. 12 and she did it while praying and ministering to Christ Jesus( in Jesus’s Name)!! We will be judged not on the greatness or level of difficulty of our deeds but by whether we use our “gift(s)” fully and using them/it w/ the amount of faith we have.
 
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Mother Teresa cared for lepers … people that no one else wanted to care for … she is a Saint, and no one should ever question the way she went about taking care of the ones no one wanted to take care of.
 
Take some time to read about Mother Teresa and you will find out why.
 
Katherine438 said:
Take some time to read about Mother Teresa and you will find out why
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I have read a lot about her and see absolutely no reason to question the operation of her institutions or her raising practices, or her view of abortion and women who have them. Saints can, and maybe should, enter into controversial discussions and practices. But I can’t see any reason not to discuss them. What is the reason you see?
 
I have read a lot about her and I don’t think anything she did should be questioned … she is a great Saint.
You do what you want … I just gave my opinion.
 
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