Pope Francis Declares Mother Teresa a Saint

[packman]

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pope-francis-p

"VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Mother Teresa of Calcutta, known as the “saint of the gutters” during her life, was declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Francis on Sunday, fast-tracked to canonization just 19 years after her death.

Tens of thousands of pilgrims packed St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for a service to honor the tiny nun, who worked among the world’s neediest in the slums of the Indian city now called Kolkata and become one of the most recognizable faces of the 20th century."





Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pope-francis-proclaims-mother-teresa-a-saint_us_57cc0153e4b078581f136836?section=&

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Comments at bottom of link are rather caustic and scathing of her work in India

[MADem]

1. Wouldn't Christopher Hitchens be pissed off?

He spent his latter years railing at two women, and she was one of 'em. Didn't bother her though!


Is it me, or does it seem that the Catholics have developed somewhat of a "fast track authority" for sainthood?

[Major Nikon]

2. The motivation is the same

Whenever the RCC has an image problem, they make someone a saint.

[forest444]

6. Fast-track sainthood was one of the more unfortunate legacies of John Paul II.

As was the near-dominance of the fascist pressure group Opus Dei in Catholic affairs - something which Francis has been rolling back to some extent (I'd keep a close eye on my tea if I were he).

Indeed the most infamous of these fast-track canonizations was probably that of the founder of the Opus Dei (and Franco's black monk), Father José María Escrivá - who died in 1975, was beatified in '92, and canonized in 2002 (a record 27 years).

His canonization was crucial for the Opus Dei, as doing so entitled them to their own Prelature - their 'church within the church'.

This farce, however, backfired due as much to its scandalous nature as to its sheer bad timing. The controversy dovetailed very well with the floating pedophile scandal which had just erupted at the time, and together these arguably became the most damaging developments for the Catholic Church since Avignon.

As such it did more than a hundred books by Penny Lernoux to delegitimize Opus Dei, especially since they were inescapably tied to the policy of floating pedophile priests from one parish to the next and related cover-ups. They nevertheless remain influential in right-wing politics from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, the Philippines - and even the U.S., by way of characters such as Paul Ryan, the late Scalia, and Alito.

[MADem]

12. Apparently he makes his own tea! And does some of his own shopping!

AND he cooks too--and eats COMMUNALLY.

He's not stupid--he moved into that dorm to keep "regular people" around him. The fact that they also serve as food tasters is a bonus!

[Matilda]

18. I went completely off JPII when he canonised Escriva.

There seemed to be two reasons: one, that he espoused a particularly hardline brand of Catholicism; and two, that he gave a lot of money (millions) to the Vatican.

And disclaimer – I'm a Catholic, and supposedly, we have to accept the sainthood of whomever the Vatican decrees. I draw the line at Escriva, and because of that, at the canonisation of JPII himself.

And while we're at it, JP canonised over 400 people as saints – more than five centuries of popes before him put together. He cheapened sainthood, and I'm afraid I think it's all a bit of a joke now.

And I think you're right about Francis – I mentioned to one of our priests , who has no love for the Curia, some weeks ago, that I was glad that Francis chose not to eat alone, and he responded with a joke about cardinals and poison.

Says a lot about the Curia, and a lot about many modern Catholics' attitude to them.

[forest444]

22. My thoughts exactly.

John Paul was far too cozy with the reactionary wing of the Catholic Church, as was Benedict. They were also far too fond of cover-ups as a solution to longstanding, festering problems like pedophilia and corruption in general.

As for Francis, I suppose that miracles are too much to expect; but I know he's trying to get as many reforms in as he can - no easy task given the sheer bureaucratic resistance from some in the Curia (as well as their lay backers).

How's everything in Australia these days? Good news and plenty of forward momentum, I'm sure.

Always good seeing you, Matilda.

[Matilda]

27. We're struggling with our right-wing government

who are completely in the hands of the big corporations.

They have only a one-seat majority, though, and let's hope they'll stumble badly (quite possible, given their collective IQs), and we'll be called on to vote again before their three years are up.

[forest444]

28. Sorry to hear that.

I was under the impression that Turnbull was a real improvement from the reactionary Tony Abbott.

They couldn't be anywhere near as bad as our openly fascist Republicans, no doubt. I mean, I realize Murdoch's Australian, and then there's Gina Rinehart - but surely Australia's parliamentary right is a lot more moderate than that (and certainly more moderate than today's medieval, Armageddon-obsessed GOP here in the U.S.).

[Matilda]

38. We all thought that Turnbull would be an improvement.

He'd previously expressed his belief in man-made climate change, favoured marriage equality, and was generally believed tobe at least centrist in his views, if not leaning slightly Left.

But the power in the Liberal Party (what a joke of a name!) now rests with the hardline right-wingers, who bear more than a passing resemblance to the Tea Party. Turnbull has shown that he lacks the courage to fight them – he knows they really hate him and he's terrified of losing their support, so whatever they want, they get.

His popularity slips with every opinion poll that comes out, and the government lost about 14 seats in the election, giving him a working majority of just one.

And believe me, there are many prominent Libs who would have a great affinity with Trump and all he stands for – Abbott is really their preferred leader; it was just a pity that the people couldn't abide him.

[Drahthaardogs]

24. Not sure if "fast track" is correct,

saints like St. Gema Galgani or Padre Pio were canonized with minimal time, but what has happened is this.

The role of Devil's Advocate (yes, that was actually a Catholic position) was eliminated in 1983. As such, more saints are canonized more quickly.

[MADem]

34. LOL--sounds like a fun job!!! nt

[Drahthaardogs]

35. Some of us do it for free

so sayeth my wife...

[MelSC]

39. I'm sorry but

Christopher Hitchens complete character assassination of her was over the top and a bit unfair.

[MADem]

40. He was an end stage alcoholic who had problems with women.

He also went OTT re: Princess Diana. It was just ... strange.

[mothra1orbit]

3. Here's your headline, boys

MOTHER TERESA CURED MY CLAP

[rug]

7. You'd better check again.

[mothra1orbit]

26.

well, the rash got better at least

[Ron Obvious]

4. The patron saint of suffering and evil gnomes.

I was struck by the NPR interviews that the people from Calcutta mostly had a low opinion of her, seeing as she wasn't interested in providing medical care or actually improving the lot of the poor, despite the millions she raised from dubious figures. She was merely interested in spreading Catholicism and its doctrines.

Vile woman. A black eye for the church.

[Moonwalk]

8. Hey, they say pot-ay-to, the vatican says po-tah-to, which is to say, to the vatican, spreading....

...Catholicism IS what makes you worthy of Sainthood. Any old philanthropist or charitable organization can provide medical care or improve the lot of the poor. Heck, the non-denominational Peace Corp and Clinton Foundation does just that. But it takes a genuine Saint to give the poor a chance at actual salvation by accepting Jesus. Look at St. Paul. Spread the word and converted all those Romans. Look at St. Peter. Created the Church. Look at St. Patrick. Drove out the pagans and brought in the Christianity.

So, the people of the former Calcutta might not think much of her, but in the Church's opinion, she was all that and more. She not only spread Catholicism where she was, not only started her own line of fashionable nuns, but she got her face on all the magazine, got on television, in documentaries. She created an order that brought the idea of salvation via Catholicism back into global awareness and, thus, is worthy of Sainthood.

[smirkymonkey]

9. +1000

She was a horrible person.

[Crash2Parties]

15. She was a donation gold mine.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Yikes. I completely missed when

Calcutta became Kolkata. I knew about Bombay --> Mumbai but those years under Shrub just messed me up when the former happened.

[lunatica]

10. I thought a person had to have committed a 'miracle' to be a saint

Or had to have been part of a miracle. I think Mother Teresa devoted her life to the poorest and sickest, for better or worse, but that the Church, who basically believes women are second class citizens would canonize her, without her having done at least one miracle, is very strange.

If Mother Teresa had actually laid hands on all the people and cured them I could see it. But from what some say about her she basically made sure they stayed sick and miserable, even when she got millions from people all over the world.

[brooklynite]

11. That's never how the miracle works...

...if a live person did "faith healing", they'd be rising to the level of Jesus. The miracle claims are always a matter of intercessory prayer:

In 1997, Monica Besra a tribal woman in West Bengal was under acute pain due to a tumour that had been diagnosed in her abdomen. After having visited a number of hospitals and doctors, she had not been cured. In May 1998 she was admitted to the home run by the Missionaries of Charity order in the town of Patiram.

The tumour had caused her stomach to swell up by now. Doctors considered her condition to be fragile and surgery was put off for another three months.

On September 5, 1998, as the Missionaries of Charity order was witnessing the first death anniversary of Mother Teresa with prayers in the chapel, Monica Besra felt a beam of light emanating from the photograph of Mother Teresa. In the evening, two sisters of the order tied a medallion with Mother Teresa’s picture around Besra’s waist and prayed over her. That night she slept peacefully after months of painful sleeplessness. When she woke up in the morning, her tumour was gone.

http://indianexpress.com/article/research/mother-teresa-canonisation-two-miracles-that-led-the-way-to-sainthood/

[lunatica]

16. Thanks! That makes sense.

I had a feeling that there was a miracle required somewhere in there.

[Drahthaardogs]

25. Two are required.

The second miracle attributed to Teresa of Calcutta is very interesting. She was cured of a large tumor. The doctor who verified it as unexplainable medically was on NPR the other morning. She was an atheist and very much a skeptic, but said the cure had no medically explainable reason.

[stopbush]

29. Didn't she turn a lame man blind?

Miracles.

[Drahthaardogs]

30. Actually the lady on NPR was very interesting

She in no way, shape, or form attributed the cure to divine intervention, but she stated there was no medical explanation either.

Your reply was not really clever nor funny. It was kind of lame and really just trollish.

[stopbush]

31. As befits religion, which is lame and extremely trollish.

[Drahthaardogs]

32. Except I was not talking about religion

I was talking about the interview with the atheist doctor who stated she could not find a medical rationale for the cure.


Which means your response lacked the context you espouse for lame and trollish responses. Thus we now have only one conclusion...

[stopbush]

33. A single doctor not being able to provide an explanation is meaningless.

No doubt other doctors could give various explanations that were not miraculous. There could even be a consensus on a given explanation.

And even if no doctor - atheist or otherwise - can provide a scientific explanation at this time, it doesn't mean a scientific explanation doesn't exist. If such an explanation is discovered tomorrow, will the RCC nullify the supposed "miracle?"

I would also mention that Teresa's supposed "first miracle" has been widely disputed, including by the oncologists who treated the cancer victim that supposedly had her cancer cured by a picture of Teresa being placed on them. They were treating her before the supposed miracle. The RCC elected to ignore the opinions of those who exposed the bullshit girding Teresa's first miracle. That choice to ignore professional medical opinion doesn't make the miracle true.

[anneboleyn]

13. There are many women saints, and the miracles occur after the saint's death in the Catholic process

I am no defender of the Catholic Church nor do I believe its doctrines. But I did go to catholic school ages ago. I am not exactly sure what point you are trying to make but there are many female saints in Catholicism. Of course I don't think the church is a promoter of women's rights but there are certainly many female saints; in fact these saints are among the most popular in the tradition together with the many appearances of Mary over the years.

The rules for sainthood were made easier, a sort of "fast track" that has been criticized by some conservatives in the church, during Pope John Paul II's tenure, which is why there have been a number of canonizations recently (and certainly many of these canonizations have been criticized as political but to be honest canonizations were always highly political going back through the Middle Ages to the early church). Mother Theresa is associated with two miracles, which both occurred after her death as is the norm (both involved the "disappearance" of cancerous tumors -- one occurred in 2002 and one in 2015).

The realistic reason for this is that miracles are much harder to determine according to church standards in the modern era. Miracles aren't really "proven" to have occurred; rather, the church investigates an incident and consults "experts" and if no "satisfactory" naturalistic explanation is available a miracle may be determined to have occurred. Obviously I am using scare quotes since these things are highly disputed. The prospective Saint himself or herself does not perform the miracle (as that power belongs to God alone in Catholicism) but "intercedes" on behalf of the person praying for a miracle. The requirement now is that the person who might be canonized must be "involved in" at least two miracles after death (not during his or her lifetime -- the miracles occur after death in the Catholic Church).

[anneboleyn]

14. Brooklynite thanks for the post about prayer vs faith healing in Catholic tradition

[lunatica]

17. Thanks for explaining it in detail. I truly appreciate it

[Matilda]

19. JP did away with the Devil's Advocate.

This was the name given to a person appointed to argue against the case for canonisation of a potential saint; it provided "checks and balances" to the process.

I have no idea whether any canonisations were prevented by this process, but at least it gave a semblance of an alternate view and prevented the rush canonisations that charcterised JPII"s papacy.

[dflprincess]

21. When I made First Communion my grandmother gave me a copy of "Lives of the Saints"

it wasn't until I was quite a bit older that I notice an awful lot of early female saints had the words "virgin and martyr" under their names. It might say "martyr" under a male saint, but never did it say virgin.

Apparently in the days of the early church one of the requisites for a female to be considered saintly was that she died defending her hymen from an infidel.

[LeftyMom]

20. A woman who also had medical treatment and surgery claims Mother Theresa cured her cancer

with a magic amulet. Her doctor and her husband insist that it was medicine.

The same woman also made some public complaints when the Missionaries of Charity stopped paying her living expenses and for her kids' education. She's back on side. It's not really hard to figure out what's up.

[Helen Borg]

23. Can Saints be "demoted" later on?

If it turns out they weren't, due to new evidence? This entire Sainthood thing is such an insult to everybody's intelligence.

[TexasBushwhacker]

37. Yes, Saint Christopher was demoted

Generally it happens when the church decides that they may just be legends, not real people.

[lindysalsagal]

36. Irrellevant imaginary event in an irrelevant, imaginary cult.

I can declare myself everyone's fairy god mother with an equal amount of earthly implications, except, of course, her potential for shaming, shunning, and fund raising.

[LanternWaste]

41. Nation states, national borders and patriotism fit will within the parameters of your indictment.

" Irrellevant imaginary event in an irrelevant, imaginary cult...."

Nation states, national borders and patriotism fit will within the parameters of your indictment.