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'MOTHER TERESA: WHERE ARE HER MILLIONS?'
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From: use...@mantra.com (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,alt.fan.jai-maharaj,soc.culture.australian,soc.culture.usa,misc.writing.screenplays
Subject: 'MOTHER TERESA: WHERE ARE HER MILLIONS?'
Followup-To: soc.culture.indian,alt.fan.jai-maharaj,soc.culture.australian,soc.culture.usa,misc.writing.screenplays
Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2005 20:31:04 GMT
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Forwarded message
The Following Feature Appeared in Germany's
STERN magazine on September 10, 1998 on occasion
on Mother Teresa's first death anniversary.
It is worth pointing out here that STERN, one
of Europe's highest selling magazines, is a
conservative organ, not known for its anti-Catholic
bias.
MOTHER TERESA: WHERE ARE HER MILLIONS?
By Walter Wuellenweber
The Angel of the poor died a year 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 is surely there: Agnes
Gonxha Bojaxhiu from Skopje in Macedonia, better known as
Mother Teresa. 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 "monument"?
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 "poorest of the
poor" 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 Calcutta's 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 Teresa's institution, but instead from
the Assembly of God, an American charity, that serves
18000 meals here daily.
"Mother Teresa?"says Samity, "We have not received
anything from her here. Ask in the slums -- who has
received anything from the sisters here -- you will find
hardly anybody."
Pannalal Manik also has doubts. "I don't understand why
you educated people in the West have made this woman into
such a goddess!" Manik was born some 56 years ago in the
Rambagan slum, which at about 300 years of age, is
Calcutta's oldest. What Manik has achieved, can well be
called a "miracle". He has built 16 apartment buildings
in the midst of the slum -- living space for 4000 people.
Money for the building materials -- equivalent to DM
10000 per apartment building -- 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? "I went to her place 3 times," said Manik. "She
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!"
In Calcutta there are about 200 charitable organisations
helping the poor. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity
are not amongst the biggest helpers: that contradicts the
image of the organisation. The name "Mother Teresa" 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. "All
lies," says Aroup Chatterjee . 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. "No 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! -- 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!" 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 Teresa's organisation ignores this prescription!
It is not known if the Finance Ministry in Delhi who
would be responsible for charities' accounts, have the
actual figures. Upon STERN's inquiry, the Ministry
informed us that this particular query was listed as
"classified information".
The organisation has 6 branches in Germany. Here too
financial matters are a strict secret. "It's nobody's
business how much money we have, I mean to say how little
we have," says Sr Pauline, head of the German operations.
Maria Tingelhoff had had handled the organisation's book-
keeping on a voluntary basis until 1981. "We did see 3
million a year," she remembers. But Mother Teresa never
quite trusted the worldly helpers completely. So the
sisters took over the financial management themselves in
1981. "Of course I don't know how much money went in, in
the years after that, but it must be many multiples of 3
million," estimates Mrs Tingelhoff. "Mother was always
very pleased with the Germans."
Perhaps the most lucrative branch of the organisation is
the "Holy Ghost" House in New York's Bronx. Susan Shields
served the order there for a total of nine and a half
years as Sister Virgin. "We spent a large part of each
day writing thank you letters and processing cheques,"
she says. "Every 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 -- cheques for $50000 were no
rarity." Sister Virgin remebers that one year there was
about $50 million in a New York bank account. $50 million
in one year! -- 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 -- 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 "Mother Teresa's Home"
means just a living accomodation for the sisters, with no
charitable funstion. 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 Calcutta's
pavement stalls, traders can be seen sellin used western
labels for 25 rupees (DM1) apiece. Numerous traders call
out, "Shirts from Mother, trousers from Mother."
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 Teresa's organisation has
about 500 locations worldwide. But for purchase or rent
of property, the sisters do not need to touch their bank
accounts. "Mother always said, we don't spend for that,"
remembers Sunita Kumar, one the richest women in Calcutta
and supposedly Mother T's closest associate outside the
order. "If 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."
Her method was also successful in Germany. In March the
"Bethlehem House" was dedicated in Hamburg, a shelter for
homeless women. Four sisters work there. The
archtecturally 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£500. When she was told she'd
have to pay at the till, the diminutive seemingly
harmless nun showed her Balkan temper and shouted, "This
is for the work of God!" 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)? -- around
DM360,000 or less than 7%. Whatever happened to the rest
of the money? Sister Teresina, the head for England,
defensively states, "Sorry we can't tell you that." 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, -- 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 -
- Mother's outlets in poor countries do not benefit from
largesse of the rich countries. The official biographer
of Mother Teresa, Kathryn Spink, writes, "As soon as the
sisters became established in a certain country, Mother
normally withdrew all financial support." 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
Teresa's house in Calcutta. The order has never answered.
"You should visit the House in New York, then you'll
understand what happens to donations," sayssays Eva
Kolodziej. The Polish lady was a Missionary of Charity
for 5 years. "In the cellar of the homeless shelter there
are valuable books, jewellery and gold. What happens to
them? -- The sisters receive them with smiles, and keep
them. Most of these lie around uselessly forever."
The millions that are donated to the order have a similar
fate. Susan Shields (formerly Sr Virgin) says, "The money
was not misused, but the largest part of it wasn't used
at all. When there was a famine in Ethiopia, many cheques
arrived marked 'for the hungry in Ethiopia'. 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, 'No, we don't send money
to Africa.' But I continued to make receipts to the
donors, 'For Ethiopia'."
By the accounts of former sisters, the finances are a one
way street. "We were always told, the fact that we
receive more than other orders, shows that God loves
Mother Teresa more. ," says Susan Shields. Donations and
hefty bank balances are a measure of God's 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
York's 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. "Out of the question -- we are a poor
organisation." came the reply. "In the end, the poor did
not get their bread," 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 -- gruffly. The girl never had her first
communion.
Because of the tightfistedness of the rich order, the
"poorest of the poor" -- orphans in India -- 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 Teresa's, wrote a
letter to Donors, Supporters and Friends which ran:
"On 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." Mrs
Wiedeking appeals to the generosity of supporters in view
of her powerlessness in the face of the children's 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 has have the means to buy cots
and build orphanages, -- 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 Teresa's 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 "most
disorganised organisation in the world". 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.
Fueklled 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 -- despite having received donations in their names
-- there are others who are being actively harmed by the
organisation's ideology of disorganisation. In 1994,
Robin Fox, editor of the prestigious medical journal
Lancet, in a commentary on the catastrophic conditions
prevailing in Mother Teresa's 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. "The most beautiful gift for a person is
that he can participate in the suffering of Christ," said
Mother Teresa. Once she had tried to comfort a screaming
sufferer, "You are suffering, that means Jesus is kissing
you." The sufferer screamed back, furious, "Then tell
your Jesus to stop kissing me."
The English doctor Jack Preger once worked in the home
for the dying. He says, "If 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." The British newspaper Guardian described the
hospice as an "organised form of neglectful assistance".
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:"Please 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." All this points to one
thing, something that Mother Teresa reiterated very
frequently in her speeches and addresses -- that she far
more concerened with life after death than the mortal
life.
Mother Teresa's business was : Money for a good
conscience. The donors benefitted the most from this. The
poor hardly. Whosoever believed that Mother Teresa wanted
to cahnge 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:
"Tell 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."
One question then remains: For what, in that case, do
nuns need so much money?
Source - http://members.lycos.co.uk/bajuu/
End of forwarded message
Jai Maharaj
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The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.
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