[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 144 (Wednesday, October 15, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2037]]


                       IN HONOR OF MOTHER TERESA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 15, 2003

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mother Teresa of 
Calcutta for her life-long dedication to the poorest of the poor. She 
did not do it out of obligation, but out of love and goodwill. On 
October 19, 2003, Mother Teresa will be beatified by Pope John Paul II 
in Rome.
  Mother Teresa dedicated the majority of her life to helping the 
poorest of the poor in India. While supervising a school in Calcutta, 
Mother Teresa was faced with the suffering and poverty that was outside 
her convent walls. These images made such a deep impression on her 
that, in 1946, she received permission from her superiors to leave the 
convent school and devote herself to working among the poor in the 
slums of Calcutta.
  In 1950, Mother Teresa, while doing her charity work, founded 
Missionaries of Charity, an order of nuns dedicated to serving the 
poor. Originally, the convent began with just 12 sisters; today, it has 
over 3,000 sisters in over 100 countries worldwide with 517 missions.
  Mother Teresa's compassion for the suffering knew no boundaries and 
has served as an inspiration to the world. She fed the hungry, 
sheltered the homeless, and cleaned the wounds of those injured; but 
what is even more important is that she made them feel good, loved, 
wanted, and gave them back the dignity that poverty had taken away from 
them.
  For her endless amount of volunteer work and selflessness, Mother 
Teresa was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, an honor that 
she deserved for laboring in loving dedication. She was also 
acknowledged for her work in 1985 with the Presidential Medal of 
Freedom and the Lifetime Achievement Award.
  Even late in her life, she continued to dedicate her time and energy 
to those who were in need. Today, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
honoring Mother Teresa for her selfless devotion and extraordinary 
contributions to the world community.

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