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Saint Teresa's Un-Saintly, Mythical Legacy |
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By
Stephen Lendman |
| She’s more myth than “saint of the gutters” for allegedly helping the
poorest of the poor. More on her unsaintly legacy below. The New York Times highlighted Pope Francis deplorably calling her a “witness to mercy in our time,” adding she “deserves” sainthood. The Times perpetuated her myth, falsely claiming she spent “a lifetime working with the poor and the sick, and with orphans, lepers and AIDS patients, first in the slums of Kolkata, India, and then in many other countries.” Canonizing her 19 years after her 1997 death was remarkably fast, especially for someone so unworthy - the person, her persona and deeds far different from mythology about her. Instead of helping the poor and needy, she fostered what Aroup Chatterjee called a “cult of suffering,” how things operated in Missionaries of Charity homes she ran - deplorable conditions substituting for noble work. Her so-called hospitals were human warehouses. Hunger and malnutrition were widespread. Sick and dying patients got little medical care from untrained nuns and other personnel - poor food and mistreatment instead under deplorable unsanitary conditions, conducive to serious illnesses and diseases. Most often she hobnobbed with the world’s rich, famous and infamous, accepting large donations from dubious sources, including notorious tyrants. She was more sinner than saint, she and her staff dispensing inhumane and degrading treatment, while jet-setting in luxury, indulging in undeserved celebrity. Instead of feeding thousands in Calcutta as claimed, it was scores at most. Enrollment at her school was less than 100, not the 5,000 she touted. None of her alleged 102 family assistance centers in Calcutta existed. Her public persona was one thing, reality entirely different - elevating her to sainthood the latest example of deplorable Vatican policy. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. |
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