By Sujoy Dhar, IANS
Kolkata : The sainthood of Mother Teresa has been delayed by the absence of a second miracle but god “will choose his own time” for the pious event, believes Sister Nirmala, the head of the Missionaries of Charity (MoC).
“In the heart of people, Mother is always a saint but the official sainthood is one miracle away and so far no miracle has been reported. But we are not worried since god will decide when it should come,” Sister Nirmala, superior general of MoC, told IANS in an interview here.
On Sep 5, the MoC – the order of committed, self-effacing nuns founded by the Nobel laureate – will complete 10 years without the physical presence of Mother Teresa. The order’s 4,823 sisters worldwide, clad in their blue-bordered white sari ensemble, remain deeply committed to serving the poor.
“One more miracle has to happen for the official confirmation of Mother’s sainthood. It should be a medical miracle that defies human explanation,” said Sister Nirmala, 73.
The miracle that put on fast track the process of Mother Teresa’s sainthood was reported in a village in South Dinajpur district of West Bengal. Tribal woman Monica Besra’s testimony of a miraculous cure from an abdominal tumour through Mother Teresa’s intercession paved the way for the nun’s beatification.
As per the Canon Law guiding the Roman Catholic Church, a similar miracle would be necessary after the date of the beatification ceremony to confirm Mother Teresa’s sainthood.
In Catholicism, beatification is a recognition accorded by the church to a dead person’s accession to heaven. It is the second step to canonisation (declaration of sainthood).
“A miracle is studied by the doctors and the entire process is very scientific. Even if it is reported in Kolkata, the case goes to Rome. The theologians decide after a study by doctors,” Sister Nirmala said.
“Only physical cure is taken as a miracle and we don’t have any such case till now. But we are not concerned as god will choose his time,” she said.
Meanwhile, MoC, thought much less in the media now, has remained committed to its work. People across the world keep pouring in at its austere headquarters on A.J.C. Bose Road in central Kolkata even without the magnetic presence of the “Saint of the Gutters”.
At homes run by the MoC, volunteers derive spiritual satisfaction from tending to the orphans, the crippled, the sick, lepers and the destitute.
The order has opened new centres, taking the number of its homes to 757 worldwide. “We have gone to 14 new countries in the last decade, taking our presence to 134 nations in all,” said Sister Nirmala.
“The new countries include Bosnia-Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Togo, Djibouti, Mali, Israel, Thailand, Chad, New Zealand, Finland, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Norway,” Sister Nirmala said.
“In places like Afghanistan we are working for handicapped people and so far we have not been opposed. There are many difficult places we are going to but people appreciate us,” she said.
“There were isolated incidents like in Yemen some years back when three of our sisters were killed by hired people or in Sierra Lone where our sisters were taken hostage but god is protective everywhere otherwise,” she said.
According to Sister Nirmala, despite Mother’s absence, funds have not been a problem. “We are not dependent on any one person for funds. They come. God asked Mother to do her work and the same god took care of us.”
The order’s nuns elected Sister Nirmala superior general in a secret ballot in March 1997, almost six months before Mother died on Sep 5 the same year. But has it been a big challenge to cope with Mother Teresa’s huge legacy?
“My way of coping is simple – just to be myself. I didn’t fill in Mother’s shoes; that is impossible. I walked with my little shoes in the footsteps of Mother following the way of Jesus,” summed up Sister Nirmala.