Catholic Social Teaching: St. Teresa of Calcutta



    Following up on my column from two weeks ago on the principle of solidarity, we look today at the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta, better known as Mother Teresa. She shines a light on what it means to be in true solidarity with others through Christ’s love.

    Mother Teresa was born Agnes (Anjezë) in Skopje in 1910 in what is now North Macedonia to ethnic Albanian parents. Agnes discerned a religious calling early in life and she joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland in 1928 to learn English and become a missionary to India. After arriving in India, she taught at St. Mary’s School in Calcutta for 17 years, eventually becoming the headmistress. While she loved teaching, the poverty of the city and the Famine of 1943 disturbed her immensely. Then on September 10th, 1946 as she was journeying by train for her retreat, she heard the voice of God calling her to leave the convent and serve the poor directly. A couple years later she received permission to leave her order and she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 with the added religious vow of giving “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor”. This group grew from a small group of former students to a global network of thousands of sisters by the time of Mother Teresa’s death in 1997. She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 2003 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2016.

    How did Mother Teresa demonstrate this solidarity, this firm commitment to pursuing the common good, in action? Unsurprisingly, she followed the recommendations I listed in my column: material support, advocacy and friendship. First, she identified totally with the poor she served. She adopted their dress (white and blue sari, the garment of the poor), lived without luxuries, and ate the same food she served. One special way she and her sisters showed friendship was through accompanying people to their death. The ‘Kalighat Home for the Dying’ was founded with the idea that no one should die alone. Lifting people out of the gutters, she brought the most unwanted into a home of love for them to die in peace. Materially, she raised countless millions through her network of supporters without ever losing sight of the friendship necessary to be in solidarity with the poor. Finally, she advocated through her reception of various awards for people who had no voice. She understood that solidarity means helping the powerful to know the struggles of the weak and marginalized.

    In all these ways Mother Teresa demonstrated how to be in solidarity with others based on our common humanity and our unity in Christ, who became poor so that we might become rich in his grace. We don’t have to take a dying stranger into our home, but chances are we will have opportunities to care for those who are dying. We don’t have to travel to Calcutta to serve in a soup kitchen or volunteer to tutor. In countless ways we can show solidarity with Christ in the poor.



    -Fr. Stephen