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Mother Teresa
Biography
Mother Teresa was
born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 27,
1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve,
she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a
missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen
she left her parental home in
Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with
missions in
India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to
India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a
nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High
School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed
outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her
that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave
the convent school and devote herself to working among the
poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she had
no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an
open-air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by
voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming.
This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work.
On October 7, 1950,
Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her
own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was
to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look
after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious
Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.
Today the order
comprises Active and Contemplative branches of Sisters and
Brothers in many countries. In 1963 both the Contemplative
branch of the Sisters and the Active branch of the Brothers was
founded. In 1979 the Contemplative branch of the Brothers was
added, and in 1984 the Priest branch was established.
The Society of
Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former
Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide
effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of
countries in Asia,
Africa, and Latin
America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural
catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for
refugees. The order also has houses in North America,
Europe and Australia,
where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and
AIDS sufferers.
The Missionaries of
Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by
Co-Workers who became an official International Association on
March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million
Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers,
the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's
spirit and charism in their families.
Mother Teresa's work
has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she
has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the
Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her
promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She
also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and
Magsaysay awards.
From Nobel Lectures, Peace
1971-1980, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Irwin
Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1997
This
autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and
later published in the book series
Les Prix Nobel/Nobel
Lectures. The information is sometimes updated with an
addendum submitted by the Laureate. To cite this document,
always state the source as shown above.
Mother Teresa died on
September 5, 1997.
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