did not look kindly on a religious figure, particularly one becoming inter-
nationally renowned.
And then all too soon, it was time to return home. Upon her arrival in
Calcutta, Mother Teresa continued to work with her sisters, opening up
new homes throughout India. For the next five years, new chapters ap-
peared in cities and states throughout the country. Adopting the pattern
established in Calcutta, the Missionaries of Charity assessed the needs of
an area and adapted their programs. With each new house, each new
school, each new mobile clinic, Mother Teresa’s name and works gained
greater and greater recognition. Still, it was not enough, and Mother
Teresa waited anxiously for news from the Vatican.
THE BIGGEST MIRACLE OF ALL
In February 1965, Mother Teresa finally received her answer: the Mis-
sionaries of Charity had received the pope’s permission to become a So-
ciety of Pontifical Right. In his decree granting the right, Pope Paul VI,
who had succeeded John XXIII, charged Mother Teresa and her order to
continue carrying out their works of charity and to dedicate themselves
to God. Now, Mother Teresa could carry her good works outside of India
for the first time. In time, these works included clinics for those suffering
from tuberculosis; antenatal clinics; clinics for general medical needs;
mobile leprosy clinics; night shelters for the homeless; homes for chil-
dren, the poor, and the dying; nursery schools, primary, and secondary
schools; feeding programs; villages for lepers; commercial schools; voca-
tional training in carpentry, metal work, embroidery and other skills;
child-care and home-management classes; and aid in the event of emer-
gencies and disasters such as floods, earthquakes, famine, epidemics, riot-
ing and war.
Mother Teresa’s first invitation came in 1965 when she was asked to
open a house in Venezuela, to help many of the impoverished people who
had lapsed in their Catholicism due to a lack of priests and nuns to sustain
them. Archbishop James Robert Knox, the Internuncio to New Delhi,
had already met with a South American bishop who impressed upon
Knox the need for the Missionaries of Charity. Knox wanted Mother
Teresa to accept the invitation and pressed her to do so. But Mother
Teresa balked. She was not sure that her sisters were ready for such an un-
dertaking. She wanted more time. Archbishop Knox told her that the
needs of the Church were more important than the needs of her sisters.
The matter was then settled. Mother Teresa and her order were going to
Venezuela.
96 MOTHER TERESA