“Oh. For a second, I thought this was about being married to John Kerry.”
LOL
What Mother Teresa did was a good thing but she failed in one thing. She didn’t try to “convert” those folks as “there are many paths to God”.
India had (and still has) a hard time dealing with her. Her very presence shamed the government. She did what no one else would do...took care of the unwanted dying, left in their streets alone, neglected, abandoned and in despair.
She shamed the entire population, culture, history and tradition. If she hadn't been so humble, simple living, non-condemning and effective, she could have been forgotten. But she tore at their conscience.
If she had TRIED to convert, she could have been condemned for SOMETHING but, she just did what she did. Her living example was a thorn in the heart of all India.
The entire country was greatly relieved when she died. Now, they can go back to status quo. The sisters who stay there and carry out her work aren't so extraordinary as they weren't "the first." She did exactly the right thing for living in India, she LIVED her faith by example -- no moralizing, no attempts at conversion, no judging. Her impact was/in tremendous.
While it is true that some of her statements and actions seemed a bit synchretistic; however, she did convert and baptize many on their deathbed.
One story I myself heard her tell was this: She picked up a man off the streets who was dying; carried him to their convent; began, with her usual selfless smile to clean him and see in him Jesus in "distressing disguise"; then she asked him,
"Would you like to go to Heaven and be with Jesus for all eternity?"
He replied, "Is Jesus like you?"
She responded, "Oh no, He is infinitely better!"
"Then," he said, "I want to go to Heaven to be with Jesus."
She then instructed him in the basic truths of the Trinity, the Redemption, asked if he believed and then baptized him. He stole Heaven like the good thief through the evangelization of Mother Teresa. I'm told she never baptized anyone against their will; but that she had helped tens of thousands to accept Christ and be baptized before they died.