Mother Teresa Didn't Care What Journalists Said About Her
An old African proverb says it takes a village to raise a child. But it also takes a few sinners.
“I’m not a social worker. I do it for the church.”
— Saint Teresa
Mother Teresa was a sinner. We should be thankful.
Douglas Robertson of The Independent wrote: "Mother Teresa wasn't saintly — she was a shrewd operator with unpalatable views….who knew how to build up a brand."
Not a saint then, but a brand manager?
Journalists make more money talking people down than building up.
Another ink-stained wretch, Christopher Hitchens, traveled to the Vatican to inform the Pope that Mother Teresa was "a lying, thieving Albanian dwarf." That must have come as news to the Pope.
The rationale for the slur? "Mother Teresa was not a friend of the poor" because she dared to say, "I'm not a social worker; I do it for the church." Through gin-soaked and tobacco-stained teeth he confidently declared that sainthood should be off the table. Hitch, as he was called, sobered up before pontificating on the meaning of virtue vs. sin. The latter is not doing good things. It is doing things you get praised for by a journalist.
Hitchens made a career out of playing "devil's advocate" and didn't restrict it to Teresa. By the way, the 'devil's advocate' is a canonical right that goes back centuries. It has come down to us in that famous wedding question no one ever wants to answer: "do any here have an objection?"
The concept goes back to Pope Gregory I (540–604 A.D.) who enjoyed making lists apparently. It is why we still remember (and commit) the seven deadly as they are called today, an idea he came up with more than 1500 years ago.
Gregory the Great was a brand manager, too:
- pride
- greed
- wrath
- envy
- lust
- gluttony
- sloth
The list nicely covers, well, a multitude of sins.
Then Gregory added a tagline, “thou shalt not.” After having so much luck, he recruited the opposing team, the seven virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility.
But what did Gregory mean by sin? It wasn’t gambling, drunkenness, smut, or beastly behavior. In other words, what happens on a typical jaunt to Las Vegas.
Excess was the leading cause of sin, not pornography, making money, enjoying a fine meal, or working for the church. By the way, the temple survived until AD 390, when the site was completely destroyed by zealous Christians in an attempt to remove all traces of Paganism.
Gregory was a renaissance man before the Renaissance who inspired the church liturgy with poetry and championed music in the mass, and like Teresa helped the poor. He converted the Anglo-Saxon pagans in Britain — considering Christianity’s effect on England and the new world. His motive was to curb the excess animal instincts which lure chaos into our lives, meaning that in moderation, sin is okay.
Gregory’s idea of sin is more about overindulgence, as in eating five cheeseburgers and three sides of fries. That happens in Las Vegas, too. But his theory was borrowed from the ancient Greeks, not Caesar’s Palace.
In the 4th century B.C., “nothing in excess” was the first of three Delphic maxims inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to Greek writer Pausanias. The other two were “know thyself” and “certainty brings insanity.”
So was Teresa a sinner, after all?
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. She left home in 1928 at age 18 to travel to Ireland to learn English and to become a missionary; English was the language of instruction in her convent in India. She never saw her family again. Although Mother Teresa enjoyed teaching, she was increasingly disturbed by poverty in Calcutta. In 1946, she asked for and received permission to leave to create the Missionaries of Charity. It started with 13 members. By the time she finished, there were over 4,000 worldwide.
The congregation runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children’s and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools. Members take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience and also profess a fourth vow: to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.”
This brings us around to our point about sinners and journalists.
When fame is currency, the very act of shaming brings about a reward. It is the weapon of choice for the extremists. Thankfully, Hitchens failed to defrock Teresa, but it leaves the feeling that if you think you have enemies, wait until you are a saint.
My take is that the Pope should make sanctimoniousness the 8th deadly sin.
