suffer the little children

It's really sad that only now this evidence has come up because so many people didn't want to believe the abuse and neglect to little children... if only earlier because then perhaps many might have started working on ameliorating the conditions for those children existing in substandard conditions in homes that held very poor children mostly for visitors to come and donate funds which sadly were not used to improve the conditions [ otherwise pople might stop donating!] anyhow now it's out that for whatever reason Mother Teresa didn't care to investigate this priest .... 

 

 

Read SF Weekly story ‘Tainted Saint’ by Peter Jamison here

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“Paedophile priest Fr. Donald McGuire was a high-flying Jesuit, an inspirational preacher whose conservative views matched Mother Teresa’s own. His association with Mother Teresa dated from 1981, when he was introduced to her by another leading Jesuit, John Hardon, an adviser to Cardinal Ratzinger — now Pope Benedict XVI — who is also said to be considered saint material. McGuire went on to become a confessor and spiritual director to Mother Teresa’s religious order. Her successor Sister Nirmala described him in a letter submitted on his behalf to the court as ‘one of the very few priests to whom … [Mother Teresa] entrusted the spiritual care of the Missionaries of Charity.’” – Nelson Jones

She was one of the world’s most beloved and revered religious figures, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who remains, in the public imagination, the tiny, saintly nun whose life devoted to the poor of Calcutta was a model of Christian renunciation. She had her critics, prominent among them the late Christopher Hitchens, who drew attention to her extreme Catholic traditionalism and her occasional cosying-up to dictators in search of funds for her Missionaries of Charity. But nothing stopped her elevation, a mere six years after her death in 1997, to the status of “Blessed”. Her full canonisation looks to be just a matter of time.

Now, though, it looks as though she might be dragged posthumously into the ongoing scandal of priestly sex abuse. Evidence presented in the somewhat unlikely forum of SF Magazine sheds new and potentially damaging light on her close association with Father Donald McGuire, one of the most notorious clerical paedophiles of recent years. In 1994, it appears, Mother Teresa had urged McGuire’s reinstatement to the ministry despite clear evidence of his abusive behaviour.

McGuire was a high-flying Jesuit, an inspirational preacher whose conservative views matched her own. His association with Mother Teresa dated from 1981, when he was introduced to her by another leading Jesuit, John Hardon, an adviser to Cardinal Ratzinger [now Pope Benedict XVI] who is also said to be considered saint material. McGuire went on to become a confessor and spiritual director to Mother Teresa’s religious order. Her successor Sister Nirmala described him in a letter submitted on his behalf to the court as “one of the very few priests to whom … [Mother Teresa] entrusted the spiritual care of the Missionaries of Charity.”

Yet all the while, he was known (or at least strongly suspected) by senior figures in the Roman Catholic Church to be a serial abuser of young boys in his care. When he was finally brought to trial in 2006, evidence was presented of abuse going back over three decades – most of which had ignored or brushed aside by his superiors. Finally, in 2009 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison following a second conviction for child rape. The Society of Jesus is still fighting legal moves by his victims to obtain compensation.

In 1993, McGuire was temporarily suspended after being accused of inappropriate behaviour with a 16-year-old boy and sent on a course of psychiatric treatment. This might have ended his ministry had not his powerful supporters intervened. Hardon seems to have been convinced of his innocence of the more serious allegations (though he accepted that McGuire’s admitted conduct — such as sharing pornography and showers with the boy — had been “highly imprudent”) and reassured him that his work with Mother Teresa’s order could continue.

Hitherto there has been no suggestion that Mother Teresa herself knew of the suspicions about McGuire. But a letter in her name — and very probably written by her — has now emerged. In it, she acknowledges the “grave” nature of the child-abuse scandal and stresses “how careful we must be to guard the purity and reputation of that priesthood”. The letter goes on to assert Mother Teresa’s own “confidence and trust in Fr. McGuire” and states that she wishes to see “his vital ministry resume as soon as possible.” And indeed his ministry — and abuse of children — resumed soon afterwards.

Mother Teresa’s influence, of course, was considerable if not in itself decisive. Patrick Wall, a lawyer and former Benedictine monk who has represented many victims of priestly abuse, is quoted as saying that “We’re talking about extremely powerful people who could have gotten Father McGuire off the streets in 1994… I’m thinking of all those kids who could have been saved.”

The letter perhaps reveals little more than naivety on Mother Teresa’s part: she had been persuaded by Hardon, who had himself been duped by the plausible and manipulative Fr McGuire, that he deserved a second chance. But it also demonstrates how lightly serious allegations of child abuse were still being treated by the Catholic authorities as recently as the mid 1990s, especially when the alleged abuser was prominent and theologically sound. Teresa herself, to judge by her words, seems to have been much less concerned about the need to protect children from paedophile clergy than with preserving the “purity and reputation” of the Church and the priesthood. Scarcely the stuff of which saints are — or should be — made. – The New Statesman, 12 January 2012

PROBLEMS FROM POOR NUTRITION- in MC homes

 I only volunteered in the baby and toddler room in Madras, though I did visit the h/c children next door room who were able to sit up quietly in chairs all day doing nothing and occasionally the upstairs room with 14 prostate kids. However the nuns decided to transfer two of the cerebral palsy affected children to the toddlers room. They were around 6 and 8 years respectively. The older girl was so often crying which was very disconcerting and personally I’ve always wondered how a child crying without adequate attention for hours and hours can affect the psyche of other young children present. Soprana perhaps was suffering any number of discomforts. Would a comfortable swinging sling with mobiles perhaps have distracted her?- though she was absolutely silenced by the comfort of human touch. However people were so busy she could not receive that attention she deserved. The nuns’ solution was to open their habitually locked cupboards and provide her with biscuits. She certainly enjoyed them as could be evidenced by the state of her teeth. The saddest thing re Soprana was viewing a letter that was on the table where I ate lunch- including the lemon rice etc that I purchased myself. The letter lying idle available for all to see was a hand written letter from a previous volunteer from France who wanted to adopt Soprana. The superior told me it was not to be. Though this would have been great as her present life was basically an endless purgatory. Though this adoption may sound unlikely and perhaps potentially dodgy the fact remains that I have met some extraordinarily generous souls visiting and volunteering in MC homes. There was one working right at this time with a smaller younger child who had been abandoned in the next door church. Although abandonment sounds highly uncaring it is, in fact the only way a handicapped child will ever be admitted to a MC home. MCs have talked to me about how they will and have refused to accept a child with a family. This French middle aged volunteer fell in love with this little boy who may have had brain irritation due to his birthing or perhaps had suffered from meningitis as an infant. Without cuddling and comfort and sometimes even despite this he would scram and cry. X was so taken with him that she wanted to take her with her to France for a year to be treated- perhaps even operated on. Perhaps the MCs didn’t have the skills or desire to bring this to fruition. Because of her calming presence he did not receive endless biscuits to silence him and hence his teeth remained in tact for the time being. Did MT not realize much about dental care? The literature does indicate that she was often reprimanded by her dentist for eating too many chocolates, though the word ‘chocolates’ in India doubles up for caramels. Did her personal dentist not remind her of the need to clean teeth- hers and thus everybody else’s at least once daily before bed? It’s true the ubiquitous plastic brushes are not used by the poorer classes at least then in India- but poorer people did purchase and use sticks cut from the neen tree, which achieved the same end. But MT appeared to provide neither tooth cleaner for her inmates.