Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a world-famous Catholic nun and founder of the missionaries of charity whose work was mainly concentrated on the poor people of Calcutta. She was awarded the 'Templeton Prize' in 1973 and the 'Nobel Peace Prize' in 1979. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in October 2003, hence she was called 'Blessed Teresa' by Catholics.

Teresa was born on August 27, 1910, as Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje in the Republic of Macedonia. Her father was a contractor. Teresa was the youngest of all the children.

Since her childhood, she decided to work for poor people. She was a part of the youth group in her local community called 'Sodality. At the age of 18, the Pope approved of Teresa to leave Skopje and join the 'Sisters of Loreto', an Irish community of nuns in Calcutta.

She was selected to work with the 'Sisters of Loreto' in order to provide education to girls. After a few months of training at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, she was sent to Darjeeling in India. In 1931, she completed her first vows there, choosing the name 'Sister Mary Teresa' in honor of Teresa of Avila and Thérèse de Lisieux. She took her last vows in May 1937 and got the religious title 'Mother Teresa'.

Mother Teresa taught Geography and Catechism at St Mary's High School in Calcutta from 1929 to 1948. She became the principal of the school in 1944.

In 1948, she received authorization from Pope Pius XII, via the Archbishop of Calcutta, to depart from her society and live as an independent nun. She gave up the high school and did a short course with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna.

After some time, she returned to Calcutta and started staying with the 'Little Sisters of the Poor. Then, she started an outdoor school for homeless children. Soon, she was joined by charitable helpers and received monetary support from church organizations and other municipal authorities.

In October 1950, Teresa received Vatican consent to begin her personal order, which the Vatican at first labeled as the Diocesan Congregation of the Calcutta Diocese, but later it became to be known as the 'Missionaries of Charity, whose task was to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers and all those groups who suffer the feeling of unwanted, unloved, uncared in the society'. With an aid of Indian officials, she converted a deserted Hindu temple into the Kalighat Home for the sufferers, and free medical facilities were provided to them. Soon after, she opened another hospital, 'Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart), a home for lepers called 'Shanti Nagar' (City of Peace) and an orphanage. By the 1960s, she opened various hospitals, orphanages, and leper houses all throughout India.

In 1965, she was highly praised by Pope Paul VI who granted her to expand in other countries. Mother Teresa's effort motivated other Catholics to join themselves with her. The Missionaries of Charity Brothers was founded in 1963, and a branch of the Sisters were started in 1976. By the early 1970s, she had become a worldwide famous personality. In 1971, Paul VI awarded her the first 'Pope John XXIII' Peace Prize. Other awards given to her included a 'Kennedy Prize' (1971), the 'Albert Schweitzer International Prize' (1975), the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom' (1985) and the Congressional Gold Medal (1994), honourary citizenship of the United States (November 16, 1996) and honorary degrees from several Universities. In 1972, Mother Teresa was awarded the 'Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding.

In 1979, Teresa was awarded the 'Nobel Peace Prize', "for efforts undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which is a threat to peace." She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates and asked that the $6,000 funds be given to the poor in Calcutta. In the same year, she was also awarded the 'Balzan Prize for promoting peace and brotherhood among the nations.

In 1983, Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome, while visiting Pope John Paul II. After a second heart attack in 1989, she received a pacemaker. In 1991, after a short period of pneumonia while in Mexico, she had additional heart problems. In 1991, returning to her home country, she opened a home in Tirana, Albania

In April, 1997, Mother Teresa fell and broke her collarbone. Later that year, in August, she suffered from malaria and failure of the left heart ventricle. She underwent heart surgery, but her health deteriorated. On March 13, 1997, she stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity and died in September 1997 at the age of 87.

Before her death, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters, an associated brotherhood of 300 members, and over 100,000 volunteers, in service in 610 missions in 123 countries.