[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 139 (Friday, October 3, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S12443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MOTHER TERESA: A BELOVED SAINT FOR OUR TIME

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, on October 19, Mother Teresa of Calcutta 
will be officially beatified in Rome. I say ``officially,'' because in 
the eyes of so many people around the world, Catholic and non-Catholic 
alike, she is already recognized as an extraordinary saint. She is, 
without question, one of the most beloved individuals of our time.
  Why is this? By all means, her accomplishments are well known and 
respected. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity and 
oversaw the organization's amazing growth. By the time of her death, 
the order had grown to include more than 5,000 sisters, brothers, and 
volunteers, operating some 500 centers around the world. Even here in 
Washington, DC, we witness Missionaries of Charity on the streets of 
this city, tending to the homeless and feeding the hungry.
  But there is another reason why this woman is so beloved. It is 
because we live in a world of such extraordinary material abundance, a 
world that prizes youth and health. And yet here was a woman who 
willingly and lovingly embraced poverty, and devoted her life to the 
old, the sick, and the dying. And more than that, she inspired 
thousands of people all across the world to join her in that mission.
  I remember hearing about a journalist who visited one of Mother 
Teresa's hospices in Calcutta. He watched as one of the sisters bathed 
and dressed the terrible wounds of a leper who was near death. The 
journalist said to the sister, ``You know, I wouldn't do that for all 
the money in the world.'' To which the sister answered, ``Neither would 
I.''
  In 1979, when Mother Teresa accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, she said:

       I chose the poverty of poor people. But I am grateful to 
     receive the Nobel Prize in the name of the hungry, the naked, 
     the homeless, the blind, the lepers, all the people who feel 
     unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout our society, people 
     that have become a burden to society and shunned by everyone.

  That is just an amazing statement, an amazing testament. Mother 
Teresa was powerfully motivated by the words of Jesus in the Gospel of 
Matthew, ``As you did for the least of these your brethren, you did on 
to me.'' And just as Jesus inspired Mother Teresa, the soon-to-be Saint 
Teresa of Calcutta inspires all of us. She is a saint for all time, but 
she speaks with special urgency to us today.

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