Author(s): Christopher Hitchens

Politics

In a searching examination of the Teresa cult, the author of "International Territory: The United Nations 1945-95" passes his final caustic judgement on Mother Teresa, reviewing her surrogate role as propagandist for the most extreme views, and concluding that she is "not" heaven's agent on Earth. "Hitchens argues his case with consummate style".--"New York Times". 20 illustrations. "Who would be so base as to pick on a wizened, shrivelled old lady, well stricken in years, who has consecrated her entire life to the needy and destitute? On the other hand, who would be so incurious as to leave unexamined the influence and motives of a woman who once boasted of operating more than five hundred convents in upwards of 105 countries - "without counting India"? Lone self-sacrificing zealot, or chair of a missionary multinational?" Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, feted by politicians, the Church and the world's media, Mother Teresa of Calcutta appears to be on the fast track to sainthood. But what, asks Christopher Hitchens, makes Mother Teresa so divine? In a frank expose of the Teresa cult, Hitchens details the nature and limits of one woman's mission to the world's poor. He probes the source of the heroic status bestowed upon an Albanian nun whose only declared wish is to serve God. He asks whether Mother Teresa's good works answer any higher purpose than the need of the world's privileged to see someone, somewhere, doing something for the Third World. First published 1995.