By: Sanjay Vaidya
Mother Teresa: Where Are Her Millions?
This article is the second bomb about the activities of Missionaries of Charity, after Sister Susan Shields dropped the 1st bomb, creating jaw-dropping shock-waves. More bombs are in the pipeline, as our inquiry continues. This article first appeared in Stern.
The Angel of the poor died some years ago. Donations still flow in to her Missionaries of Charity like to no other cause. But the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize vowed to live in poverty. What then, happened to so much money?
If there is a heaven, then she тАУ Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu from Skopje in Macedonia, better known as Mother Teresa тАУ is surely there !!
She came to Calcutta on the 6th of Januray 1929 as an 18 year old sister of the Order of Loreto. 68 years later luminaries from all over the world assembled in Calcutta in order to honour her with a state funeral. In these 68 years she had founded the most successful order in the history of the Catholic church, received the Nobel Peace Prize and became the most famous Catholic of our time.
Are doubts permitted, regarding this тАЬmonumentтАЭ?
In Calcutta, one meets many doubters.
For example, Samity, a man of around 30 with no teeth, who lives in the slums. He is one of the тАЬpoorest of the poorтАЭ to whom Mother Teresa was supposed to have dedicated her life. With a plastic bag in hand, he stands in a kilometre long queue in CalcuttaтАЩs Park Street. The poor wait patiently, until the helpers shovel some rice and lentils into their bags. But Samity does not get his grub from Mother TeresaтАЩs institution, but instead from the Assembly of God, an American charity, that serves 18000 meals here daily.
тАЬMother Teresa?тАЭsays Samity, тАЬWe have not received anything from her here. Ask in the slums тАФ who has received anything from the sisters here тАФ you will find hardly anybody.тАЭ
Pannalal Manik also has doubts. тАЬI donтАЩt understand why you educated people in the West have made this woman into such a goddess!тАЭ
Manik was born some 56 years ago in the Rambagan slum, which at about 300 years of age, is CalcuttaтАЩs oldest. What Manik has achieved, can well be called a тАЬmiracleтАЭ. He has built 16 apartment buildings in the midst of the slum тАФ living space for 4000 people. Money for the building materials тАФ equivalent to DM 10000 per apartment building тАФ was begged for by Manik from the Ramakrishna Mission [a Indian/Hindu charity], the largest assistance-organisation in India. The slum-dwellers built the buildings themselves. It has become a model for the whole of India.
But what about Mother Teresa? тАЬI went to her place 3 times,тАЭ said Manik. тАЬShe did not even listen to what I had to say. Everyone on earth knows that the sisters have a lot of money. But no one knows what they do with it!тАЭ
In Calcutta there are about 200 charitable organisations helping the poor. Mother TeresaтАЩs Missionaries of Charity are not amongst the biggest helpers: that contradicts the image of the organisation. The name тАЬMother TeresaтАЭ was and is tied to the city of Calcutta. All over the world admirers and supporters of the Nobel Prize winner believe that it must be there that her organisation is particularly active in the fight against poverty.
тАЬAll lies,тАЭ says Aroup Chatterjee ( truthweb@writeme.com ). The doctor who lives in London was born and brought up in Calcutta. Chatterjee who has been working for years on a book on the myth of Mother Teresa, speaks to the poor in the slums of Calcutta, or combs through the speeches of the Nobel Prize winner. тАЬNo matter where I search, I only find lies. For example the lies about schools. Mother T has often stated that she runs a school in Calcutta for more than 5000 children. 5000 children! тАФ that would have to be a huge school, one of the biggest in all of India. But where is this school? I have never found it, nor do I know anybody who has seen it!тАЭ says Chatterjee.
Compared to other charitable organisations in Calcutta, the nuns with the 3 blue stripes are ahead in two respects: they are world famous, and, they have the most money. But how much exactly, has always been a closely guarded secret of the organisation.
Indian law requires charitable organisations to publish their accounts. Mother TeresaтАЩs organisation ignores this prescription! It is not known if the Finance Ministry in Delhi who would be responsible for charitiesтАЩ accounts, have the actual figures.
Upon STERNтАЩs inquiry, the Ministry informed us that this particular query was listed as тАЬclassified informationтАЭ.
The organisation has 6 branches in Germany. Here too financial matters are a strict secret. тАЬItтАЩs nobodyтАЩs business how much money we have, I mean to say how little we have,тАЭ says Sr Pauline, head of the German operations.
Maria Tingelhoff had had handled the organisationтАЩs book-keeping on a voluntary basis until 1981. тАЬWe did see 3 million a year,тАЭ she remembers.
But Mother Teresa never quite trusted the worldly helpers completely.
So the sisters took over the financial management themselves in 1981. тАЬOf course I donтАЩt know how much money went in, in the years after that, but it must be many multiples of 3 million,тАЭ estimates Mrs Tingelhoff. тАЬMother was always very pleased with the Germans.тАЭ
Perhaps the most lucrative branch of the organisation is the тАЬHoly GhostтАЭ House in New YorkтАЩs Bronx. Susan Shields served the order there for a total of nine and a half years as Sister Virgin. тАЬWe spent a large part of each day writing thank you letters and processing cheques,тАЭ she says. тАЬEvery night around 25 sisters had to spend many hours preparing receipts for donations. It was a conveyor belt process: some sisters typed, others made lists of the amounts, stuffed letters into envelopes, or sorted the cheques. Values were between $5 and $100.000. Donors often dropped their envelopes filled with money at the door. Before Christmas the flow of donations was often totally out of control. The postman brought sackfuls of letters тАФ cheques for $50000 were no rarity.тАЭ Sister Virgin remebers that one year there was about $50 million in a New York bank account. $50 million in one year! тАФ in a predominantly non-Catholic country.
How much then, were they collecting in Europe or the world? It is estimated that worldwide they collected at least $100 million per year тАФ and that has been going on for many many years.
While the income is utter secret, the expenditures are equally mysterious. The order is hardly able to spend large amounts. The establishments supported by the nuns are so tiny (inconspicuous) that even the locals have difficulty tracing them. Often тАЬMother TeresaтАЩs HomeтАЭ means just a living accomodation for the sisters, with no charitable function. Conspicuous or useful assistance cannot be provided there.
The order often receives huge donations in kind, in addition to the monetary munificence. Boxes of medicines land at Indian airports. Donated foograins and powdered milk arrive in containers at Calcutta port. Clothing donations from Europe and the US arrive in unimaginable quantities. On CalcuttaтАЩs pavement stalls, traders can be seen sellin used western labels for 25 rupees (DM1) apiece. Numerous traders call out, тАЬShirts from Mother, trousers from Mother.тАЭ
Unlike with other charities, the Missionaries of Charity spend very little on their own management, since the organisation is run at practically no cost. The approximately 4000 sisters in 150 countries form the most treasured workforce of all global multi-million dollar operations. Having taken vows of poverty and obedience, they work for no pay, supported by 300,000 good citizen helpers.
By their own admission, Mother TeresaтАЩs organisation has about 500 locations worldwide. But for purchase or rent of property, the sisters do not need to touch their bank accounts. тАЬMother always said, we donтАЩt spend for that,тАЭ remembers Sunita Kumar, one the richest women in Calcutta and supposedly Mother TтАЩs closest associate outside the order. тАЬIf Mother needed a house, she went straight to the owner, whether it was the State or a private person, and worked on him for so long that she eventually got it free.тАЭ
Her method was also successful in Germany.In March the тАЬBethlehem HouseтАЭ was dedicated in Hamburg, a shelter for homeless women. Four sisters work there. The architecturally conspicuous building cost DM2.5 million. The fortunes of the order have not spent a penny toward the amount. The money was collected by a Christian association in Hamburg.
With Mother T as figure head it was naturally short work to collect the millions. Mother Teresa saw it as as her God given right never to have to pay anyone for anything. Once she bought food for her nuns in London for GB┬г500. When she was told sheтАЩd have to pay at the till, the diminutive seemingly harmless nun showed her Balkan temper and shouted, тАЬThis is for the work of God!тАЭ She raged so loud and so long that eventually a businessman waiting in the queue paid up on her behalf.
England is one of the few countries where the sisters allow the authorities at least a quick glance at their accounts. Here the order took in DM5.3 million in 1991. And expenses (including charitable expenses?) тАФ around DM360,000 or less than 7%.
Whatever happened to the rest of the money? Sister Teresina, the head for England, defensively states, тАЬSorry we canтАЩt tell you that.тАЭ Every year, according to the returns filed with the British authorities, a portion of the fortune is sent to accounts of the order in other countries. How much to which countries is not declared. One of the recipients is however, always Rome. The fortune of this famous charitable organistaion is controlled from Rome, тАФ from an account at the Vatican bank.
And what happens with monies at the Vatican Bank is so secret that even God is not allowed to know about it.
One thing is sure however тАФ MotherтАЩs outlets in poor countries do not benefit from largesse of the rich countries. The official biographer of Mother Teresa, Kathryn Spink, writes, тАЬAs soon as the sisters became established in a certain country, Mother normally withdrew all financial support.тАЭ Branches in very needy countries therefore only receive start-up assistance. Most of the money remains in the Vatican Bank.
STERN asked the Missionaries of Charity numerous times for information about location of the donations, both in writing as well in person during a visit to Mother TeresaтАЩs house in Calcutta.
The order has never answered. тАЬYou should visit the House in New York, then youтАЩll understand what happens to donations,тАЭ says Eva Kolodziej. The Polish lady was a Missionary of Charity for 5 years. тАЬIn the cellar of the homeless shelter there are valuable books, jewellery and gold. What happens to them? тАФ The sisters receive them with smiles, and keep them. Most of these lie around uselessly forever.тАЭ
The millions that are donated to the order have a similar fate. Susan Shields (formerly Sr Virgin) says, тАЬThe money was not misused, but the largest part of it wasnтАЩt used at all. When there was a famine in Ethiopia, many cheques arrived marked тАШfor the hungry in EthiopiaтАЩ. Once I asked the sister who was in charge of accounts if I should add up all those very many cheques and send the total to Ethiopia. The sister answered, тАШNo, we donтАЩt send money to Africa.тАЩ But I continued to make receipts to the donors, тАШFor EthiopiaтАЩ.тАЭ
By the accounts of former sisters, the finances are a one way street. тАЬWe were always told, the fact that we receive more than other orders, shows that God loves Mother Teresa more ,тАЭ says Susan Shields. Donations and hefty bank balances are a measure of GodтАЩs love. Taking is holier than giving.
The sufferers are the ones for whom the donations were originally intended. The nuns run a soup kitchen in New YorkтАЩs Bronx. Or, to put in straight, they have it run for them, since volunteer helpers organise everything, including food. The sisters might distribute it. Once, Shields remembers, the helpers made an organisational mistake, so they could not deliver bread with their meals. The sisters asked their superior if they could buy the bread. тАЬOut of the question тАФ we are a poor organisation.тАЭ came the reply. тАЬIn the end, the poor did not get their bread,тАЭ says Shields.
Shields has experienced countless such incidents.
One girl from communion class did not appear for her first communion because her mothet could not buy her a white communion dress. So she had to wait another year; but as that particular Sunday approached, she had the same problem again. Shields (Sr Virgin) asked the superior if the order could buy the girl a white dress. Again, she was turned down тАФ gruffly. The girl never had her first communion.
Because of the tightfistedness of the rich order, the тАЬpoorest of the poorтАЭ тАФ orphans in India тАФ suffer the most. The nuns run a home in Delhi, in which the orphans wait to be adopted by, in many cases, by foreigners. As usual, the costs of running the home are borne not by the order, but by the future adoptive parents. In Germany the organisation called Pro Infante has the monopoly of mediation role for these children. The head, Carla Wiedeking, a personal friend of Mother TeresaтАЩs, wrote a letter to Donors, Supporters and Friends which ran:
тАЬOn my September vist I had to witness 2 or 3 children lying in the same cot, in totally overcrowded rooms with not a square inch of playing space. The behavioural problems arising as a result cannot be overlooked.тАЭ Mrs Wiedeking appeals to the generosity of supporters in view of her powerlessness in the face of the childrenтАЩs great needs.
Powerlessness?! In an organisation with a billion-fortune, which has 3 times as much money available to it as UNICEF is able to spend in all of India? The Missionaries of Charity have the means to buy cots and build orphanages, тАФ with playgrounds. And they have enoungh money not only for a handful orphans in Delhi but for many thousand orphans who struggle for survival in the streets of Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta.
Saving, in Mother TeresaтАЩs philosophy, was a central value in itself. All very well, but as her poor organisation quickly grew into a rich one, what did she do with her pictures, jewels, inherited houses, cheques or suitcases full of money? If she wished to she could now cater to people not by obsessively indulging in saving, but instead through well thought-out spending.
But the Nobel Prize winner did not want an efficient organisation that helped people efficiently. Full of pride, she called the Missionaries of Charity the тАЬmost disorganised organisation in the worldтАЭ. Computers, typewriters, photocopiers are not allowed. Even when they are donated, they are not allowed to be installed. For book-keeping the sisters use school notebooks, in which they write in cramped pencilled figures. Until they are full. Then everything is erased and the notebook used again. All in order to save.
For a sustainable charitable system, it would have been sensible to train the nuns to become nurses, teachers or managers. But a Missionary of Charity nun is never trained for anything further.
Fuelled by her desire for un-professionalism, Mother Teresa decisions from year to year became even more bizarre. Once, says Susan Shields, the order bought am empty building from the City of New York in order to look after AIDS patients. Purchase price: 1 dollar. But since handicapped people would also be using the house, NY City management insisted on the installation of a lift (elevator). The offer of the lift was declined: to Mother they were a sign of wealth. Finally the nuns gave the building back to the City of New York.
While the Missionaries of Charity have already witheld help from the starving in Ethiopia or the orphans in India тАФ despite having received donations in their names тАФ there are others who are being actively harmed by the organisationтАЩs ideology of disorganisation.
In 1994, Robin Fox, editor of the prestigious medical journal Lancet, in a commentary on the catastrophic conditions prevailing in Mother TeresaтАЩs homes, shocked the professional world by saying that any systematic operation was foreign to the running of the homes in India: TB patients were not isolated, and syringes were washed in lukewarm water before being used again. Even patients in unbearable pain were refused strong painkillers, not because the order did not have them, but on principle. тАЬThe most beautiful gift for a person is that he can participate in the suffering of Christ,тАЭ said Mother Teresa. Once she had tried to comfort a screaming sufferer, тАЬYou are suffering, that means Jesus is kissing you.тАЭ The sufferer screamed back, furious, тАЬThen tell your Jesus to stop kissing me.тАЭ
The English doctor Jack Preger once worked in the home for the dying. He says, тАЬIf one wants to give love, understanding and care, one uses sterile needles. This is probably the richest order in the world. Many of the dying there do not have to be dying in a strictly medical sense.тАЭ The British newspaper Guardian described the hospice as an тАЬorganised form of neglectful assistanceтАЭ.
It seems that the medical care of the orphans is hardly any better. In 1991 the head of Pro Infante in Germany sent a newsletter to adoptive parents: тАЭPlease check the validity of the vaccinations of your children. We assume that in some case they have been vaccinated with expired vaccines, or with vaccines that had been rendered useless by improper strotage conditions.тАЭ All this points to one thing, something that Mother Teresa reiterated very frequently in her speeches and addresses тАФ that she far more concerened with life after death than the mortal life.
Mother TeresaтАЩs business was : Money for a good conscience. The donors benefitted the most from this. The poor hardly. Whosoever believed that Mother Teresa wanted to change the world, eliminate suffering or fight poverty, simply wanted to believe it for their own sakes. Such people did not listen to her. To be poor, to suffer was a goal, almost an ambition or an achievement for her and she imposed this goal upon those under her wings; her actual ordained goal was the hereafter.
With growing fame, the founder of the order became somewhat conscious of the misconceptioons on which the Mother Teresa phenomenon was based. She wrote a few words and hung them outside Mother House:
тАЬTell them we are not here for work, we are here for Jesus. We are religious above all else. We are not social workers, not teachers, not doctors. We are nuns.тАЭ
One question then remains: For what, in that case, do nuns need so much money?
┬аThese pillars are testimony to ancient Hindu understanding of sound and physical properties of rocks. PC: @brakoo
