Following one of her former
student, others joined her in her mission. In 1948, she opened the first slum
school. As the congregation grew she sought approval from the Pope and shifted
to 54A Lower Circular Road, which became the Mother House. The Missionaries of
charity was officially established as a religious congregation for the
Archdiocese of Calcutta in October 1950. The organisation devoted to the working for the
destitute, now have thousands of homes and members all over the country and
abroad. Calcutta became the center
of her humanitarian activities. Her first home was 'Nirmal Hriday' (pure
heart) for
the sick and the dying, and then ' Shishu Bhavan' for the disabled, orphaned and mentally
retarded children, 'Shanti Nagar', a colony for lepers where they were
cared for, they could learn a skill, build their own houses and could work on
their own fields, AIDS hospices and
so on. The first home outside India was founded in 1965 in Venezuela. Others
were later opened in Italy, Tanzania, Australia, US, Communist Cuba, former
Soviet Union etc.
Mother
Teresa became an Indian citizen in 1962. She has received many national and international awards in recognition of her
noble work for humanity. The first award being Padmashri for distinguished
service (1962), then the Magsaysay
Award the same year, Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971), Good Samaritan Award
(1971),
John . F. Kennedy International Award (1971), Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International peace (1972), Nobel Peace Prize (1979), Bharat
Ratna (1980), Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award
(1993) etc. were some of them.
In 1983, at the age of 72,
Mother was diagnosed with a serious heart condition and her health steadily
worsened. In 1990, Mother had decided to step down as the head due to her
failing health and so called a conclave of sisters to choose a successor. But in
a secret ballot, she was re-elected with one dissenting vote, that was her own.
In 1991 she underwent heart surgery and in March 1997, Sister Nirmala a former
Hindu converted to Roman Catholic was elected to succeed Mother Teresa as leader
of Missionaries of Charity. On September 5, 1997 the 87-year old mother died of
severe cardiac arrest at the Missionaries of Charity headquarters in Kolkata.
The late mother taught the world the beauty in giving and left behind an enormous
organisation with the will to continue her work. Mother was beatified by Pope
John Paul II at St. Peters square in Vatican, on October 19th 2003, seven years
after her death. Henceforth the mother will be referred to as the The Blessed Teresa
of Kolkata.
Contact address
Missionaries of
Charity
54A, A.J.C. Bose Road
Kolkata 700 016
Phone: 033- 245 2277, 249 7115
Nirmal Hriday (Centre
for dying and destitute)
251, Kalighat Rd,
Calcutta 700026
Phone: 033- 24644223
