Mother Teresa: a biography

A BRIEF REUNION
While in Rome, Mother Teresa arranged a reunion with her brother
Lazar, whom she had not seen in more than 30 years. Lazar now lived in
Palermo, Sicily, where he worked for a pharmaceutical firm. He was also
married to an Italian woman and was the father of a 10-year-old daughter.
During World War II, he had joined the Italian army after the Italian oc-
cupation of Albania. His defection to the Italian army earned him a death
sentence in Albania; Lazar could never return to the land of his birth.
When the two met, they discussed the terrible predicament of Aga and
their mother, who were still in Albania. The country, now a communist
satellite of the Soviet Union, had made it virtually impossible for its resi-
dents to leave Albania. Mother Teresa had applied for a visa to visit the
country, and possibly because of her brother, but more likely because of
her own activities, she had been refused. Albania’s atheist government
T H E G R OW T H O F A M I R A C L E
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did not look kindly on a religious figure, particularly one becoming inter-
nationally renowned.
And then all too soon, it was time to return home. Upon her arrival in
Calcutta, Mother Teresa continued to work with her sisters, opening up
new homes throughout India. For the next five years, new chapters ap-
peared in cities and states throughout the country. Adopting the pattern
established in Calcutta, the Missionaries of Charity assessed the needs of
an area and adapted their programs. With each new house, each new
school, each new mobile clinic, Mother Teresa’s name and works gained
greater and greater recognition. Still, it was not enough, and Mother
Teresa waited anxiously for news from the Vatican.
THE BIGGEST MIRACLE OF ALL
In February 1965, Mother Teresa finally received her answer: the Mis-
sionaries of Charity had received the pope’s permission to become a So-
ciety of Pontifical Right. In his decree granting the right, Pope Paul VI,
who had succeeded John XXIII, charged Mother Teresa and her order to
continue carrying out their works of charity and to dedicate themselves
to God. Now, Mother Teresa could carry her good works outside of India
for the first time. In time, these works included clinics for those suffering
from tuberculosis; antenatal clinics; clinics for general medical needs;
mobile leprosy clinics; night shelters for the homeless; homes for chil-
dren, the poor, and the dying; nursery schools, primary, and secondary
schools; feeding programs; villages for lepers; commercial schools; voca-
tional training in carpentry, metal work, embroidery and other skills;
child-care and home-management classes; and aid in the event of emer-
gencies and disasters such as floods, earthquakes, famine, epidemics, riot-
ing and war.
Mother Teresa’s first invitation came in 1965 when she was asked to
open a house in Venezuela, to help many of the impoverished people who
had lapsed in their Catholicism due to a lack of priests and nuns to sustain
them. Archbishop James Robert Knox, the Internuncio to New Delhi,
had already met with a South American bishop who impressed upon
Knox the need for the Missionaries of Charity. Knox wanted Mother
Teresa to accept the invitation and pressed her to do so. But Mother
Teresa balked. She was not sure that her sisters were ready for such an un-
dertaking. She wanted more time. Archbishop Knox told her that the
needs of the Church were more important than the needs of her sisters.
The matter was then settled. Mother Teresa and her order were going to
Venezuela.
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M O T H E R T E R E S A

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In July 1965, the Missionaries of Charity opened their first home out-
side India in Cocorote, Venezuela. Mother Teresa, accompanied by five
sisters, came to the small town. Working in Cocorote also presented the
Missionaries of Charity with a very different situation. Not only were they
dealing with a different language, but also with a different culture. While
in Cocorote, the sisters, for the first time, began cooperating in religious
education. Because priests were in such short supply, the sisters took on
the duties of preparing children to receive their First Communion and
Confirmation, which were important Catholic rituals for children be-
tween the ages of 8 and 12.
By 1970, the duties of the sisters had expanded even more. After open-
ing a house in Caracas, they received permission for three of their nuns to
administer Holy Communion, a duty previously reserved for priests. This
relaxing of rules allowed the Missionaries of Charity to offer Holy Com-
munion to the sick and the dying. In addition, the sisters were busy con-
ducting funerals, washing and cleaning for the elderly, and feeding the
hungry. In 1972, the Missionaries of Charity helped with roof repairs
when strong winds damaged several homes, leaving many without ade-
quate shelter. In return for their many labors, the nuns might be rewarded
with something simple: an egg from someone’s hen, or a banana. The sis-
ters accepted the gifts with gratitude.