Tab Article

Ratings: ★★★☆☆ (3.5/5)
Genre: Biography, Religion, Current Affairs, Non-Fiction, Criticism

Book Review:
Mother Teresa of Calcutta is one of the most iconic and beloved figures of the 20th century. A symbol of selfless charity and compassion, she was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 2016, just nineteen years after her death. But is this the whole story? Aroup Chatterjee's Mother Teresa: The Untold Story is a powerful and controversial book that dares to ask this question, presenting a meticulously researched and deeply critical portrait of a woman whose public image, he argues, was built on a foundation of myth and misinformation.

Chatterjee is not a right-wing critic or a sensationalist journalist. He is a Kolkata-born physician who, as a young man, briefly worked as a volunteer in one of Mother Teresa's homes. His critique comes from a place of personal experience and a deep concern for the poor of Calcutta. He argues that the homes run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity provided substandard medical care, lacked proper hygiene, and were more concerned with converting the dying to Catholicism than with alleviating their suffering.

The book goes far beyond the conditions in her homes. Chatterjee examines Mother Teresa's fundraising practices, which he argues were opaque and misleading. He scrutinizes her political and theological views, including her staunch opposition to divorce and contraception, which he sees as contributing to the very poverty and suffering she claimed to fight. He also reveals her acceptance of donations from dubious sources, including the authoritarian Duvalier regime in Haiti and the convicted fraudster Charles Keating.

Chatterjee's book is a work of meticulous scholarship, drawing on a wide range of sources, including interviews with former volunteers and medical professionals, and a close reading of Mother Teresa's own writings. It is a necessary corrective to the hagiography that has dominated the popular narrative.

However, Mother Teresa: The Untold Story is not an easy read. It is a deeply unsettling book that challenges deeply held beliefs. Some readers may find its tone too harsh or its conclusions too sweeping. But it is an important book, one that forces us to think critically about the nature of sainthood, the role of charity, and the power of image-making. Whether you agree with Chatterjee's conclusions or not, this is a book that deserves to be read and debated. It is, as The Irish Times noted, ''truly shocking.''