Chapter 9
BLESSINGS AND BLAME
Thanks to the amazing success of the documentary Something Beautiful for
God,Mother Teresa no longer just belonged to Calcutta or to India. She
belonged to the world. Malcolm Muggeridge, the journalist who now
emerged as one of Mother Teresa’s most vocal and supportive champions,
went on to write a book published under the same title in 1971. Using the
transcript from the film as the basis of the text and incorporating many
black and white photographs, the book illustrated Mother Teresa’s work
and life. Muggeridge also included nine pages of Mother Teresa’s sayings,
stating that, since Mother Teresa would never write about herself or her
work, there should be a record of her own words.
The book enjoyed phenomenal success. It has rarely gone out of print,
and over 30 years, has sold more than 300,000 copies. It has been
reprinted 20 times and has been translated into 13 languages. Upon his
death in 1990, Muggeridge donated the royalties from the book to Mother
Teresa, the sum of which is about £60,000.
Between the film, the book, and Mother Teresa’s own globe-trotting,
both she and her order were very much in the public eye. Although that
visibility was beneficial, particularly as Mother Teresa was trying to raise
funds and awareness of the world’s poor, it also left her vulnerable to grow-
ing dissent, criticism, and accusations. Despite Muggeridge’s predictions
that Mother Teresa would one day be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, her
application for the coveted award was rejected three times.
NEW ADVENTURES
During the 1970s Mother Teresa continued her travels, both speaking
and opening new homes for the Missionaries of Charity. The decade