London -
Mother Teresa’s saintly image may have been unjustified, according to experts who have questioned “the suspicious management of the enormous sums of money she received”.
They have also suggested she had a “rather dubious way of caring for the sick”.
Researchers studied nearly 300 documents on her life and say there are reasons to doubt her reputation, including “questionable political contacts”.
At the time of her death at the age of 87 in 1997, Mother Teresa had opened 517 missions for the poor and sick in more than 100 countries. But doctors visiting several of these establishments in Calcutta described them as “homes for the dying”.
They observed a lack of hygiene, a shortage of care, inadequate food and no painkillers - despite the foundation created by Mother Teresa having raised hundreds of millions of pounds.
The researchers, from the Universities of Montreal and Ottawa, also said that following natural disasters in India she offered prayers but no monetary aid.
Serge Larivie and Genevieve Chenard, writing in the journal Studies in Religion/Sciences, said: “Given the parsimonious management of Mother Teresa’s works, one may ask where the millions of dollars for the poorest of the poor have gone?
“The media coverage of Mother Teresa could have been a little more rigorous.” - Daily Mail