Mother Teresa

Facts, information and articles about Mother Teresa, a famous woman in history

Mother Teresa summary: Mother Teresa was a famous Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity which is a religious congregation that is Roman Catholic and active in 133 countries with over four thousand sisters. They are responsible for homes and hospices for those with tuberculosis, leprosy and HIV/AIDS as well as running soup kitchens, counseling programs for families, orphanages and schools. Those working for her missionaries must accept the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and to give to those who are poor. 

She received numerous honors such as the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was beatified in late 2003 and has only one miracle needed before she can be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. On the 1999 Gallup List she is accredited for being the most widely admired person of the 20th century.

There are those who criticize her for not giving pain killers or medical care to people with the notion that their suffering will bring them closer to Jesus. Some have also stated she misused charitable money and had too close of a relationship with dictators. In 1983 while visiting the Pope she suffered a heart attack. It was followed by a second one six years later and then she received a pacemaker. At the time she attempted to resign from head of the Missionaries of Charity but was voted to stay on.

She finally stepped down in March of 1997 and then passed away the fifth of the following September. She received a state funeral as the Indian government wished to show gratitude for all of her work with the poor.