Mother Teresa: a biography

ON TO OSLO
In December 1979, Mother Teresa, accompanied by four other nuns,
traveled to Oslo to receive the Nobel Prize medal and a check for
£90,000 (appx. $161,000). In addition, there was another check of
£36,000 (appx. $64,000) awaiting her, which was a donation raised by
the young people of Norway. Another £3,000 (appx. $5,300) was later
presented to her after she requested that the monies spent on the cus-
tomary banquet given in honor of the recipient instead be given to those
who needed a meal more.
B L E S S I N G S A N D B L A M E
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It was a bitterly cold day and many people in the audience were bun-
dled up in fur coats and hats in the Aula Magna of Oslo University where
Mother Teresa was slated to give her remarks and receive her prize. In the
crowd were the king and crown princess of Norway, along with many
other world dignitaries. The stage was banked with lush floral arrange-
ments; nearby, a symphony orchestra played selections from Edvard
Grieg, the great Norwegian composer. Wearing only a gray cardigan
sweater and black coat over her thin cotton sari, Mother Teresa made her
way to the podium. After asking her audience to join her in prayer, she
then began her speech. According to the reporter for the magazine
Na-
tional Review,
Mother Teresa’s speech was not only on the poor, but on
abortion, stating that nations who allowed legalized abortions are really
the poorest of all. She further argued that the most horrendous crime of all
existed “against the innocent unborn child.”
6
Another journalist wrote that Mother Teresa went on to state:
I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion. Be-
cause it is a direct war, a direct killing—direct murder by the
mother herself. . . . Because if a mother can kill her own child—
what is left but for me to kill you and you to kill me—there is
nothing in between.
7
Mother Teresa also spoke of the great spiritual poverty of the West:
Around the world, not only in the poor countries, I found the
poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. . . . a per-
son that has been thrown out from society—that poverty is so
hurtful and so much, that I find it very difficult. Our Sisters are
working amongst that kind of people in the West.
8
Even though the Norwegian paper
Aftenposten
commented how the press
was spellbound by the tiny nun who won the award, there were numerous
others who were critical of her remarks. In the aftermath of her speech,
one thing was clear: Mother Teresa had not only stated her view of abor-
tion, but also made it clear she would not change her views. And when
given the opportunity, she would speak out on the subject to any who
would listen.
As if the abortion issue were not controversial enough, Mother Teresa
disappointed many Albanians with her comments on the religious perse-
cution in Albania. When asked by a reporter for her thoughts on the sub-
ject, Mother Teresa demurred, stating that she could not say much
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M O T H E R T E R E S A

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because she did not know what was going on. But, as more than one critic
has pointed out, the fact that she was in contact with her mother and sis-
ter until they died, along with her repeated attempts to get them out of
the country, or at least to gain permission to visit, demonstrate that
Mother Teresa, in fact, knew well the conditions present in the country.
In addition, earlier that year, Mother Teresa had met with the widow of
the Albanian king, Queen Geraldine, when the country’s predicament
surely would have been discussed.
In the wake of the Nobel Prize ceremonies, many of Mother Teresa’s
supporters stated that she did not comment on the Albanian question be-
cause she refused to become involved in any controversial political
stances, as that was incompatible with her primary mission: helping the
poor. But her detractors point out that, by making her comments on abor-
tion, Mother Teresa was in fact involving herself in what was clearly one
of the most heated political arguments of the day.