Targu Jiu
The freedom of faith: defenders
Mother Theresa
After the Second
World War India proclaimed its independence from Great Britain. In this period of
great changes, a Roman-Catholic nun appeared dressed in a white sari who got involved
in taking care of people and in educating the poor children, irrespective of
their faith. The hard work for the ones in need was her belief, her unique wish
was to make people love each other. Irrespective of their race, origin, faith
she never wanted any reward.
This woman was Mother
Theresa who became the most famous nun in the world and, as a recognition of
her merits, in 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
She was born on 26th August 1910
at Skopje, in
the center of the Balkan Peninsula, today the
capital of the ex-Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia. Her real
name was Agnes Gonxa Boyaxhiu
and her family belonged to the few catholic families in the region, most of the
population being Moslems. Her mother was involved in charity work to which
Agnes became interested in, too. Her father’s death in 1919 and the social
activities drew her nearer God and at the age of 12 she had her first
tendencies to become a nun and at the age of 18, although her mother opposed
her option, she decided to step forward leaving for Dublin to integrate “De
Loreto Sisters’ Congregation”.
After her
preparation in Ireland
in January 1929 the young nun landed in India at Calcutta beginning her missionary activity.
On 24th March 1931
she ended her period of preparation, swearing her religious oath and being
given the name of Sister Theresa, chosen by her in the memory of Saint Theresa
Martin, a saint of a French origin who had lived at the end of the 19th
century.
She worked for the
church in charity actions for children and poor people and in May 1937 she
swore the final religious oath, becoming Mother Theresa.
On 10th September 1946
she decided to work in the middle of the population, getting a “privilege from
the Pope” which allowed her to activate in the laic world without loosing her
monastic status.
Her catholic faith
created numerous problems in a world dominated by the Hindu beliefs, but her
devotion toward the ones in need convinced the people she had a pure soul. In
1948 she got the Indian citizenship and to the ones who didn’t trust her
devotion she used to say:”I’m an Indian, India is my country.”
In 1960s Mother
Theresa’s activity extended over India, the actions of “The Order of the
Charity Missionary Women” created and
led by her, involving in numerous zones of the globe, in the middle of diverse
religious communities. Even if she was a Christian nun Mother Theresa
considered that it was necessary to be a Christian to believe in God, anybody
can trust any divinity, the only thing that matters is the soul, the kindness
and the acceptance of the other’s faith.
The echo of the
missionary activity brought her many international prizes, reaching a climax by
getting the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979.
The harshness of
life, her tireless activities made her body weaker and on the 5th of September 1989
Mother Theresa died. There were national funerals for her even if she hadn’t
agreed with this idea. On her funeral stone there was written a verse which
symbolizes her whole life: “Love your fellow as much as I loved you”.
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