was mother theresa a saint or a sinner?

Question

What do you think?

Were her activities made out of a desire to help people?

Or were they in reality places people go and recieve sub-standard or non-existant health care and are pushed into catholosism?

Was mother theresa interested in alleviating thier suffering or continuing it?

Did she believe that people must suffer in order to become closer to god?

What do you think- cite examples and please base your answer (for or against) on logic and research rather than "oh she is a nun so she must be right".

for those who don't know.

There are people who have dug up dirt on mother theresa.

http://www.class.uidaho.edu/ngier/490/theresa.htm

http://www.slate.com/id/2090083/

Answer 1

She would deprive basic aid, food, and support until individuals or the community accepted and participated in Catholicism.

That doesn't sound very saintly.

Answer 2

Mother Theresa is not technically a saint yet. Her desires were to help the poorest. She was interested in alleviating their suffering.

Just the fact that she spent her whole life living in the poorest conditions and campaigning for money to use in India shows her compassion to alleviate suffering.

I believe she believe people who do suffer have something to offer us. She often wrote about the poor, example, a family who would only have bread and yet bring it next door to their neighbor to share.

Answer 3

Only the catholic church names certain people of faith saints. The bible however, calls saints all those who are saved. That means, all christians. I'm sure if Mother Theresa was here today and you'd ask her, she would humbly tell you that she is a sinner as we all are. But she is a saint, because God said so.
I think it is so very disrespectful to make fun of a person like Mother Theresa, who without a doubt, had great love for the poor and ill and gave her live serving God and them. One should take their hats off and praise such an individual. Not many are so self-less.

Answer 4

She was a small, frail human, like everyone else. Who knows what she had to contend with. I have heard before that alot of people donated money, but the amount of care that was put out there was not in proportion to the amount donated. I don't know about where she was working in Calcutta, but I have heard of other times when people have donated to programs in other countries, the supplies were bought, but they never got to where they were intended, because of the local government, or other factors. At the very least, she was a human with a very big task on her hands. I do believe that her original intention was to help people, but as for the rest of it, it would be pretty hard to answer what it was truly like to stand in her shoes, what sort of things she might have been taught that affected the way she managed things, or what sort of environmental factors, or government red tape and such could have interfered in her working as effectively as she ought to.

Answer 5

She was a person born here a sinner like all of us.
She happened to dedicate her life to helping others.
She is a far better person than I.
I would not do it.
If she was a saint or not I do not know.
She was a Catholic therefore must have been schooled in Catholic doctrine and dogma.
The catholics have a doctrine of suffering for your sins. Pennance it is called. Perhaps she believed that she had to suffer that terrible life. I do not know.

Answer 6

She sacrificed herself for her neighbor and just like Jesus some idiots are trying to sully her good name. She has rightly earned a place in his Kingdom and she will probably be called forward at the time of your judgment.

The thing that people do not understand about Mother Theresa is .... she loved. She loved Jesus and she loved her fellow man.

Answer 7

The Saints were also sinners.

Christ, who is God, humbled Himself in the greatest way by becoming servants to His own Creations. Christ then teaches us to do the same... become servant to all. I, personally, think that Mother Theresa fulfilled that calling very well and better than almost anyone.

Yes, suffering brings us closer to God, but that doesn't mean we are supposed to cause suffering or not try to aleviate it. It's not the suffering itself, but the attitude towards it.

For instance, if you break your arm, you could gripe and complain about it until the cast comes off, or, you can joke about how it happened and use it as a learning experience. It's how one chooses to suffer. Now, that doesn't mean if you are their neighbor to completely ignore them and not offer to help them because "they need to suffer." That is absolutely absurd. Part of being selfless is to help others with their needs. We can help ourselves grow closer to God by serving others in their time of need. So, if you have two healthy arms, your call is not to be the one suffering, but to be the one helping.

"To whom much is given, much will be expected."

Answer 8

She was a sinner, like we all are.

However, by any reasonable measure she was also a Saint. Whether you believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church or not, you have to recognize the beauty and sacrifice of a woman who gave up everything to live among the poorest of the poor and minister to them. Her efforts drew attention to the plight of those she served, and her humility served as an example to all those who wish to be true leaders. If she presented Catholicism to those she served, that does not diminish her service. It is impossible to question her true belief in the message of Christ, and it is irrational to expect her not to speak something she so purely believed.

Answer 9

She has been universally praised for her work, by Christians and non-Christians alike. We have never heard any criticisms like the one you are implying. In my case, nuns do not have a special short-cut to approval: in fact they have a tougher road with me, I have heard so many negative stories. So I don't see why anyone would suggest Mother Theresa's work was less than altruistic.
As far as her inner motives, couldn't we leave that to God? What has been accomplished is great.

Answer 10

I think she was a saint. She told everyone she met about Jesus as she was helping the poor. She did what she could to help alleviate suffering. I heard the "famous" people who came to see her, she took with her to help the poor and homeless all the while telling them about Jesus.

Answer 11

She never pushed anyone into Catholicism. She believed in teaching everyone to be the best Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, whatever they were, that they could be. She tried to alleviate suffering where ever she went. No, she did not believe that people should suffer for God.

• Love is doing small things with great love.

• Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person.

• Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

*The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. and they never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.

• If you judge people, you have no time to love them.