children make up the majority of those sold into bondage to pay off debts
to upper-caste creditors.
It was the government provision that allowed a small number of Dalits
access to government jobs that set off the firestorm. But Dalits who had
converted to Christianity were denied this opportunity on the grounds
that once a person converted to Christianity, the issue of caste is no
longer important. It was also argued that Christian Dalits had other op-
portunities available such as studying in Christian schools. Christian Dal-
its argued that, in using these educational facilities, they were being
denied the country’s resources that as citizens they should have access to.
But, as others argued, if Dalits are Christians, they cannot be Dalits, as
Christianity does not recognize the notion of caste. If they are Dalits, then
they are Hindus, and, as far as Mother Teresa was concerned, she had lit-
tle to do with them.
Mother Teresa’s involvement with the campaign had tremendous
repercussions. Accused of trying to introduce the pattern of caste systems
into Christianity at the expense of non-Christian Dalits, Mother Teresa
called a press conference in which she stated that she had no idea what
the prayer meeting was about. Her statements infuriated the organization
sponsoring the event. The organization secretary stated that, in fact,
Mother Teresa did know the purpose of the prayer meeting as it had been
explained to her by the auxiliary bishop of the Delhi archdiocese.
In another time, an incident such as this would have rallied Mother
Teresa’s supporters. Instead, she not only antagonized non-Christians, but
Christians as well. One church official went so far as to say that Mother
Teresa, with her antiquated views on abortion and family planning, had
become obsolete. She had, in fact, helped create a greater schism in a
country already plagued by numerous divisions.
STEPPING ASIDE
On March 13, 1997, the Missionaries of Charity took a long-awaited
step: choosing a successor to head their order. The announcement ended
months of speculation not only about Mother Teresa’s future, but about
who would succeed her. The discussions over the new leader had been
deadlocked for weeks as the order struggled to find an acceptable replace-
ment. Eventually the members were forced to turn to Pope John Paul II
who offered a compromise: Mother Teresa would stay on as spiritual and
titular head of the Missionaries of Charity, while Sister Nirmala, a 63-
year-old member of the order would take over the day-to-day duties of the
group. It was also decided that she would hold the post for six years when
“THE MOST OBEDIENT WOMAN IN THE CHURCH” 135