Mother Teresa's Canonization: Controversy Mars Nun's Work
- 2016-10-18
- NBC News
For much of her life, she was known as the "living saint."
On Sunday, the 19th anniversary of her death, Mother Teresa's sanctity was sealed with a canonization Mass led by Pope Francis at the Vatican's St. Peter's Square.
To her legion of steadfast admirers, the Nobel Peace Prize winner's ascendance to "sanctified" status may look as inevitable as it is justified.
But for a nun whose name has long been a byword for pious compassion, her canonization has been met with controversy.
Much of the criticism of Mother Teresa has focused on how her practice of Catholic devotion collided with the real needs of the impoverished people she set out to help. In the eyes of some, particularly in India, she put fame and piety before her mission of aid.