The mother general could not have sent stronger support. Both Mother
Teresa and Father Van Exem were overjoyed with the response. Mother
Teresa now wrote another letter, this time to the office of the Vatican in
Rome. Although the mother general told her to consult no one, Mother
Teresa again gave the letter to Father Van Exem, who in turn gave it to
Archbishop Périer. The archbishop again stipulated that if the letter was
to be sent to Rome, Mother Teresa include her request for secularization.
Despite her fears about having to leave her religious order, Mother Teresa
was more worried about how to write to a cardinal. She asked Father Van
Exem for help; he simply replied that a “Dear Father” would suffice and
not to worry about titles, but to state her case clearly and simply. Finally
in February 1948, she sent the letter to Rome. In addition to Mother
Teresa’s request, Archbishop Périer also included a letter that outlined her
life and service in Calcutta.
Weeks and then months went by with no response from Rome. Finally
in July 1948, Archbishop Périer summoned Father Van Exem to his office.
He had received news from the Vatican that very afternoon. Rome had
granted Mother Teresa’s request for exclaustration. She would be allowed
to remain a member of the Loreto Order and work outside of the convent.
It was a wonderful victory for Mother Teresa and a vindication of the very
principals that the Loreto Sisters’ founder, Mary Ward, had been denied.
There was, however, one condition: Mother Teresa would remain outside
the cloister for a year, at which time, the archbishop would review her
progress and decide whether she would return to the convent.
The archbishop also made it clear to Father Van Exem that the news
from Rome was not to be given to Mother Teresa until after the school
week was completed. Despite Mother Teresa’s appeals to be told of the de-
cision, the archbishop was adamant: she would be told the following Sun-
day. An elated Father Van Exem agreed to the archbishop’s request.
On Sunday, August 8, 1948, Father Van Exem arose as usual and cele-
brated mass in the chapel at the Loreto convent. Following his usual cus-
tom, he gave the first sermon in Bengali, and then, after mass was
concluded, another sermon in Hindi. He then asked Mother Teresa to meet
with him in the convent parlor. When she arrived, he told her that he had
received news from Rome. According to his account, Mother Teresa turned
pale and requested to go to the chapel to pray. When she returned, he gave
her the good news: not only did Rome agree to her request to leave the con-
vent, but also that she continue her life as a Loreto Sister. She then signed
three copies of the permission: one for Rome, one for the archbishop, and
one for herself. She then asked, “Can I go to the slums now?”^6
A NEW DIRECTION AND A NEW JOURNEY 33