Mother Teresa: a biography

PUTTING HER HOUSE IN ORDER
By the mid-1990s, Mother Teresa was fighting not only ill health but
also the growing criticism of her mission. Any ideas she may have had
about retiring were now out of the question. Her seemingly contradictory
actions and world fame had put her in an uncomfortable position. Yet, she
also relied more fully on the advice and support of the other sisters, some
of whom believed that Mother Teresa was trying to get her affairs in order.
In May 1993, Mother Teresa traveled to Belgium where she was to help
celebrate a gathering of Co-Workers. Because so many volunteers were
going to attend the meeting in Antwerp, they decided to hold a meeting
of the governing body to discuss a Co-Worker chapter that had been
planned for San Diego the following year. Many believed the gathering in
Antwerp would be a good opportunity to address the organization about
some of her concerns.
Mother Teresa was scheduled to speak on May 8; however, the evening
before, Brother Geoff, General Servant of the Missionary Brothers, an-
nounced to the assembly that allegations had been made against the Co-
Workers for misuse of funds; monies that should have gone to the poor
were thought instead to have been spent on Co-Workers’ travel expenses,
newsletters, and postage. He then informed the stunned audience that
Mother Teresa was going to dissolve the Co-Workers organization the
next day and cancel the San Diego chapter.
“ T H E M O S T O B E D I E N T W O M A N I N T H E C H U R C H ” 1 3 1

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The announcement came as a terrible shock to the group. But for those
who had been with Mother Teresa almost from the beginning, her actions
were in character. For those volunteers, working with Mother Teresa had
always been a bit of a balancing act: on one hand, she could raise enor-
mous amounts of money for the poor; on the other, she had no problem
telling the Co-Workers that they could not make Christmas cards in order
to raise money. This attitude formed the crux of Mother Teresa’s own con-
cern over money; namely that it would become too central a preoccupa-
tion for the organization and its volunteers. First and foremost, the work
was always to be about the poor. In the end, with the help of Brother
Geoff, the Co-Workers convinced Mother Teresa not to disband the
group.
Plagued by her physical ailments, Mother Teresa battled memory
lapses, confusion, and a growing dependency on others. She no longer
was as accessible as she had been in years past. For many volunteers,
there was the question of whether these changes were hampering her
judgment and influencing what they perceived as erratic behavior
and inconsistent decisions. Her supporters, however, maintained that
Mother Teresa was simply reminding her volunteers not to lose track of
their priorities: to live a simple life and maintain a deep spirituality and
faith in God.
In September 1993, Mother Teresa received sad news; Father Van
Exem, the priest who had reluctantly agreed to serve as her spiritual advi-
sor over 50 years ago, had died. His death was a terrible blow to Mother
Teresa for the two had become close friends. Because she was still recov-
ering from her own illness, she could not attend his funeral, but watched
sadly from her bedroom window as the funeral procession made its way to
St. John’s Cemetery for burial.
Shortly before his death, Father Van Exem wrote to Mother Teresa,
telling her that he would be offering his prayers for the following inter-
cessions: that she would recover from her latest illness of a blocked heart
vessel without surgery; that she would travel to China by October of that
year; and that God would take him, instead of her. And so it was at the
end of October that Mother Teresa arrived in China to arrange for the
opening of a home for children. Her visit was a quick one; she stopped in
Shanghai and Beijing before going to Rome and then to Poland. She re-
turned to China once more in March 1994 with the hope of opening a
house for handicapped children. Her wish to establish the Missionaries of
Charity failed; China, by 1994, was becoming less open and Mother
Teresa turned her energies elsewhere.
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M O T H E R T E R E S A

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