Struma and the Blue Regiment Disaster, Holodomor Genocide and our ongoing series of historical events; We decided to add a new series in which we will tell the lives of people who have come to the fore with their faith, nationality and cultural identities and have taken their place in the history of humanity.
We start this series with Mother Teresa, in which we will talk about the lives of many names in the history of humanity, from Yasser Arafat, who has a special place for Palestine, to Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian Independence Movement.
An Ottoman girl in the Balkans: Agnes Gonca
Agnes Gonca, second from the right.
Agnes Gonca Boyacı (Albanian Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu), Saint Teresa of Calcutta or as we all know Mother Teresa (Mother Teresa); on 26 August 1910, now the capital of North Macedonia; He was born in Skopje, then a province of the Ottoman Empire (he explained in an interview that he considered August 27, when he was baptized, as his date of birth).
Agnes Gonca’s family and early life
Agnes Gonca; She is one of the two daughters of a North Macedonian father and an Albanian mother. Agnes is a baptismal name, not a name she uses in her everyday life. We can compare the baptismal name to today’s “middle name.” baptismal names; The holy book of the Christian faith is the names that are mentioned in the Bible and are not used in daily life.
Because of his baptismal name, we will refer to him as Gonca for now. Gonca Boyacı lost her father when she was only seven years old. After losing her father, she felt the need to take refuge in her religious faith and decided to become a devout Catholic.
The baby bird’s desire to leave the nest and sail to new horizons
As she got older, Gonca clung to her religious duties and never interrupted her pilgrimage. While feeding his soul with spiritual feelings, he also emulated the missionary movements around him (we can say “to preach” in the Christian faith, in short, to spread Christianity) and wanted to be a part of this movement.
decided to become a missionary at the age of 12, and at the age of 17 he decided that he needed to learn English to be included in missionary groups and went to Ireland to learn the language.
The adventure of India that will change his life begins
Gonca came to India in 1929, her main destination, after receiving training at the Loreto Monastery. Here he added Bengali (in short, Indian written language) to his English. Gonca, who developed herself in a short time, gave trainings on geography and religion here.
Agnes Gonca Boyacı gets the name Teresa, with which she will introduce herself to the whole world
Teresa of Lisieux
, after whom Agnes Gonca was named In 1931, she took the name Teresa from Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin, a French revered nun, also known as Teresa of Lisieux, who swore she would take responsibility for her faith, and from that day on, she became known as Teresa of Calcutta (Calcutta, an Indian city).
Teresa continued to teach until 1944, and in return for her achievements she was appointed headmistress.
Teresa, chasing something new
Teresa, the headmistress, internal turmoil in India at that time (Direct Action Day-Direct Action Day) and the poverty, misery and death that developed accordingly, began to seek ways to act conscientiously.
Teresa quit her job at the school and started collecting donations for people in distress. This was not enough for Teresa, who was a bridge between rich people and people in need, and in 1950 she rolled up her sleeves to take the decision that would change her life completely.
Charitable Missionaries Congregation (foundation) is established
In 1950, Teresa, with permission from the Vatican, founded the Missionaries of Charity. She knocked on many doors where she could collect donations and donations to help people in need. In this process, Teresa (now known as Mother Teresa) experienced many difficulties and her effort despite this difficulty; She was admired by many, including the country’s prime minister. In this process, she also acquired Indian citizenship to overcome bureaucratic obstacles.
Soup kitchens, nursing homes, clinics and schools were opened in the region. She was concerned with the treatment of leprosy patients, she. Priority was given to orphaned children, socially excluded people, women who want to quit sex work and start a new life, people with AIDS, the elderly, refugees, alcohol addicts, people with mental health problems, and disabled individuals, and special attention was paid to these people.
Mother Teresa’s work was so systematic that; The foundation continued its operations by opening 5167 centers in 139 countries.
Mother Teresa’s comment on her self
During her visit to Skopje in 1980, she was asked if she was “Albanian or Macedonian”. Mother Teresa replied, “Although she feels Albanian by blood, Skopje by homeland, Indian by identity, Catholic by faith; I belong to the world, and as for my heart, I belong entirely to Jesus.”
Aid and other actions on the Israel-Palestine line
In 1982, a ceasefire decision was taken in the conflicts between Israel and Palestine and the wounded were treated. Again in this period, she was criticized by some societies for her statements against divorce and abortion, but Mother Teresa did not hesitate to defend the truth she believed in.
He went to disaster areas in 1986 Chernobyl Disaster and 1988 Armenia Earthquake, and helped people in need. She provided food aid to people struggling with hunger in Ethiopia.
Mother Teresa’s health is alarming
Teresa was born in Rome in 1983 with Pope Pope II. She had a heart attack while visiting John Paul, but was discharged after a short period of treatment. This was the first serious alarm in Mother Teresa’s failing health. Mother Teresa, who had a second heart attack in 1989, started to live with a pacemaker this time. The treatment caused Teresa to be criticized because Teresa; she expressed at every opportunity that “pain is a gift from God.” It was also announced that during this treatment period, an exorcism ritual was held in the hospital on the grounds that Teresa was haunted by demons.
In 1990, Mother Teresa wanted to resign from her duty at the foundation due to health problems, but this request was rejected by the voting. She fell and broke her collarbone during a visit in 1996. Before She could fully recover, she had malaria and began to suffer from heart failure. All these reasons were now sufficient for the decision to resign, and this time his resignation was approved in the voting. On March 13, 1997, 6 months before her death, she left her place to Nirmala Joshi.
Mother Teresa’s death and incoming condolences
Mother Teresa’s body
Mother Teresa or Agnes Gonca Boyacı, an Ottoman woman; He died on September 5, 1997 in Kolkata, India at the age of 87. Along with the Nobel Peace Prize during his lifetime; Terasa also received the Jawaharlal Nehru Award (an internationally respected award given to people who contributed to world peace on behalf of the first prime minister in India) and the Bharat Ratna Order (India’s most prestigious award in the state); He was commemorated by the United Nations and many heads of state with his contribution to the peace of humanity and the aid he provided to the poor.
Mother Teresa, who was granted honorary citizenship by Australia and the USA for her contributions to world peace; On September 4, 2016, she was declared a “Saint” by Pope Francis at the ceremony held in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
Speech at the Nobel Prize Ceremony
Teresa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, refused the magnificent award ceremony costing 192 thousand dollars and this money He had asked for donations to needy people in India. “What can we do for world peace?” was asked at the ceremony. Teresa, who answered the question “go home and love your family”, said, “When I find someone hungry on the street, I solve this problem by giving them a plate of food and some bread and filling their stomach. He ended his speech by saying, “What can I do against this poverty, this poverty is more painful”.
Speeches expressing her opposition to abortion
In a statement about why she is against abortion, Teresa said, “A mother who can kill her baby; He explained why he was against abortion by saying, “What will it do to you and me?”
Criticisms of Mother Teresa
We have shared with you the generally accepted story about Mother Teresa until this part of our content. Different people, states and institutions have put forward about Mother Teresa; There are also some negative statements, some of which have been proven and some of which are open to interpretation. Let us now examine these views with you.
His only concern is to spread Christianity, aid is just a mask
Perhaps the biggest claim about Mother Teresa is that Teresa’s main purpose is to spread Christianity, her aids are just a mask. It is used to look cute and to influence societies.
It has been expressed by many politicians and the media that he exploits the poor and legitimizes this, that he aims to spread and impose his own faith in non-Christian lands, or to attempt activities and invitations to recruit members of communities belonging to the Christian faith.
Religious imperialist Mother Teresa
To Princess Diana
British writer and activist Christopher Hitchens, who praises Mother Teresa at every opportunity According to Mother Teresa’s volunteers; He baptized dying people against their will and regardless of faith. Many more statements were made in support of this unethical behavior.
In support of Hitchens, Australian academic, writer, feminist and activist Germaine Greer also used the term “religious imperialist” (religious invader) for Mother Teresa.
An angel defending a child molester
Robin Fox, a former volunteer, said that he had witnessed multiple use of disposable medical products for patients by washing, but the staff did not do this. He stated that he did it in good faith. Although it is done with good intentions, we can state that this is a serious problem.
Teresa’s defense of Donald McGuire, who was convicted of child molestation, and even his attempts to pardon McGuire and return to duty in 1994; McGuire’s pardon and reinstatement, thanks to Teresa, but later re-conviction with evidence; There was a huge backlash for Teresa’s support for the child molester.
The whereabouts of the collected donations is not clear
In a report published only on a research conducted in England, 7% of the collected donations were used for aid, 93%’ It was announced that he was sent to the Vatican. In many documents published later, it was stated that the donations Teresa collected were not used for aid and that people who were waiting for help died suffering.
Baby trade in Teresa’s foundations
Indian politicians say that they are not as victims or oppressed as Teresa has stated many times; He stated that Teresa condemned India to a bad reputation for the sake of religious imperialism.
In 2018, news spread that the babies of women who took refuge in a foundation in India were sold to families who applied for adoption in exchange for money.
Patients should suffer like Christ on the cross
Teresa’s clinics are worth millions of dollars in an article published by Canadian scientists Serge Larivée, Geneviève Chénard and Carole Sénéchal she received donations, but the patients were not given painkillers because Teresa wanted the patients to understand the suffering of the crucified Jesus. In fact, it was announced that hundreds of thousands of people who could be prevented from dying by being treated died because they were not treated.
His only concern is to increase the number of Catholic people
British journalist Hitchens clearly stated in a research article that “Teresa was not helping people in need for goodness. I heard it from your own mouth. He was doing all this for the church and for Jesus. His only concern was to make people Catholic,” she wrote.
A Priestess who questions God and even seeks God from time to time
Questioning the existence of God seen in many Saints and Saints (night of nothingness) , also seen on Mother Teresa. Teresa wrote about this in her notebook, “My faith, where is God? Even in my depths there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. If God exists; please forgive me.” wrote as.
Teresa in Brief
If we summarize all this long content for you; Teresa does not alleviate people’s suffering; As a result of the “official documents and statements” published so far, he wanted to make people believe that pain is a gift sent by God, that he left even people who could be cured and prevented from dying because they were given the good news of heaven, that almost none of the donations collected were used for people in need of help, and that his main goal was to spread Christianity. We can express clearly.
Editorial comment
We have not been able to understand why a person who has done no good or even harmed humanity is praised so much by great states and institutions. We think that it is in the interest of the society to remember that there are people like Mother Teresa in every faith, regardless of her faith. people like Mother Teresa; We would like to add that it harms the Christian faith, the people who hold this faith and their values of faith, and that it is very unfair to attribute Teresa to the Christian faith.
And what do you guys think about Mother Teresa? What do you think was the real purpose of Mother Teresa? You can express your ideas and thoughts in the comments.
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