Greetings for quite a long time we have
been warning that our works were unacceptable to the Eternal God,
unless He had decreed them. We have also
pointed out how many ministries are Money driven.
The concept sometimes is if everything else
has failed, start a “Church” and become rich.
It is a tragedy. The biggest culprit of all
is ‘Babylon’, ‘The Mother of Harlots’. She is immensely wealthy.
Other churches own vast property and stock
holdings.
As I have previously reported the popular
tele-evangelists pay themselves in millions of dollars per year.
Read and inwardly digest, and then think
very carefully to whom you give your hard earned money.
Bear in mind that most money given directly
to these organisations supports Satan’s work.
We do not seek funds either covertly or
overtly.
In fact you would find it quite impossible
to give money via the website, as no such facility exists. – p.j.
The Following
Feature Appeared in Germany's STERN magazine on 10 September 1998 on occasion
on Mother Teresa's 1st death anniversary.
It is worth pointing out here that
STERN, one of Europe's highest selling magazines, is a conservative organ, not
known for its anti-Catholic bias.
MOTHER TERESA : WHERE ARE HER MILLIONS?
by
Walter Wuellenweber
The Angel of the poor died a year ago. Donations still flow in to her Missionaries of Charity like to no other cause. But the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize vowed to live in poverty. What then, happened to so much money?
If there is a heaven, then she is surely there: Agnes Gonxha
Bojaxhiu from Skopje in Macedonia, better known as Mother Teresa. She came to
Calcutta on the 6th of Januray 1929 as an 18 year old sister of the Order of
Loreto. 68 years later luminaries from all over the world assembled in Calcutta
in order to honour her with a state funeral. In these 68 years she had founded
the most successful order in the history of the Catholic church, received the
Nobel Peace Prize and became the most famous Catholic of our time.
Are doubts permitted, regarding this "monument"?
In Calcutta, one meets many doubters.
For example, Samity, a man of around 30 with no teeth, who lives
in the slums. He is one of the "poorest of the poor" to whom Mother
Teresa was supposed to have dedicated her life. With a plastic bag in hand, he
stands in a kilometre long queue in Calcutta's Park Street. The poor wait
patiently, until the helpers shovel some rice and lentils into their bags. But
Samity does not get his grub from Mother Teresa's institution, but instead from
the Assembly of God, an American charity, that serves 18000 meals here daily.
"Mother Teresa?"says Samity, "We have not received
anything from her here. Ask in the slums -- who has received anything from the
sisters here -- you will find hardly anybody."
Pannalal Manik also has doubts. "I don't understand why you
educated people in the West have made this woman into such a goddess!"
Manik was born some 56 years ago in the Rambagan slum, which at about 300 years
of age, is Calcutta's oldest. What Manik has achieved, can well be called a
"miracle". He has built 16 apartment buildings in the midst of the
slum -- living space for 4000 people. Money for the building materials --
equivalent to DM 10000 per apartment building -- was begged for by Manik from
the Ramakrishna Mission [a Indian/Hindu charity], the largest
assistance-organisation in India. The slum-dwellers built the buildings
themselves. It has become a model for the whole of India. But what about Mother
Teresa? "I went to her place 3 times," said Manik. "She did not
even listen to what I had to say. Everyone on earth knows that the sisters have
a lot of money. But no one knows what they do with it!"
In Calcutta there are about 200 charitable organisations helping
the poor. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity are not amongst the biggest
helpers: that contradicts the image of the organisation. The name "Mother
Teresa" was and is tied to the city of Calcutta. All over the world
admirers and supporters of the Nobel Prize winner believe that it must be there
that her organisation is particularly active in the fight against poverty.
"All lies," says Aroup
Chatterjee . The doctor who lives in London was born and brought up in Calcutta.
Chatterjee who has been working for years on a book on the myth of Mother
Teresa, speaks to the poor in the slums of Calcutta, or combs through the
speeches of the Nobel Prize winner. "No matter where I search, I only find
lies. For example the lies about schools. Mother T has often stated that she
runs a school in Calcutta for more than 5000 children. 5000 children! -- that
would have to be a huge school, one of the biggest in all of India. But where
is this school? I have never found it, nor do I know anybody who has seen
it!" says Chatterjee.
Compared to other charitable organisations in Calcutta, the nuns
with the 3 blue stripes are ahead in two respects: they are world famous, and,
they have the most money. But how much exactly, has always been a closely
guarded secret of the organisation. Indian law requires charitable
organisations to publish their accounts. Mother Teresa's organisation ignores
this prescription! It is not known if the Finance Ministry in Delhi who would
be responsible for charities' accounts, have the actual figures. Upon STERN's
inquiry, the Ministry informed us that this particular query was listed as
"classified information".
The organisation has 6 branches in Germany. Here too financial
matters are a strict secret. "It's nobody's business how much money we
have, I mean to say how little we have," says Sr Pauline, head of the
German operations. Maria Tingelhoff had had handled the organisation's
book-keeping on a voluntary basis until 1981. "We did see 3 million a
year," she remembers. But Mother Teresa never quite trusted the worldly
helpers completely. So the sisters took over the financial management
themselves in 1981. "Of course I don't know how much money went in, in the
years after that, but it must be many multiples of 3 million," estimates
Mrs Tingelhoff. "Mother was always very pleased with the Germans."
Perhaps the most lucrative branch of the organisation is the
"Holy Ghost" House in New York's Bronx. Susan Shields served the
order there for a total of nine and a half years as Sister Virgin. "We
spent a large part of each day writing thank you letters and processing
cheques," she says. "Every night around 25 sisters had to spend many
hours preparing receipts for donations. It was a conveyor belt process: some
sisters typed, others made lists of the amounts, stuffed letters into
envelopes, or sorted the cheques. Values were between $5 and $100.000. Donors
often dropped their envelopes filled with money at the door. Before Christmas
the flow of donations was often totally out of control. The postman brought
sackfuls of letters -- cheques for $50000 were no rarity." Sister Virgin
remebers that one year there was about $50 million in a New York bank account. $50
million in one year! -- in a predominantly non-Catholic country. How much
then, were they collecting in Europe or the world? It is estimated that
worldwide they collected at least $100 million per year -- and that has been
going on for many many years.
While the income is utter secret, the expenditures are equally
mysterious. The order is hardly able to spend large amounts. The establishments
supported by the nuns are so tiny (inconspicuous) that even the locals have
difficulty tracing them. Often "Mother Teresa's Home" means just a
living accomodation for the sisters, with no charitable funstion. Conspicuous
or useful assistance cannot be provided there. The order often receives huge
donations in kind, in addition to the monetary munificence. Boxes of medicines
land at Indian airports. Donated foograins and powdered milk arrive in
containers at Calcutta port. Clothing donations from Europe and the US arrive
in unimaginable quantities. On Calcutta's pavement stalls, traders can be seen
sellin used western labels for 25 rupees (DM1) apiece. Numerous traders call out,
"Shirts from Mother, trousers from Mother."
Unlike with other charities, the Missionaries of Charity spend
very little on their own management, since the organisation is run at
practically no cost. The approximately 4000 sisters in 150 countries form the
most treasured workforce of all global multi-million dollar operations. Having
taken vows of poverty and obedience, they work for no pay, supported by 300,000
good citizen helpers.
By their own admission, Mother Teresa's organisation has about 500
locations worldwide. But for purchase or rent of property, the sisters do not
need to touch their bank accounts. "Mother always said, we don't spend for
that," remembers Sunita Kumar, one the richest women in Calcutta and
supposedly Mother T's closest associate outside the order. "If Mother
needed a house, she went straight to the owner, whether it was the State or a
private person, and worked on him for so long that she eventually got it
free."
Her method was also successful in Germany.In March the
"Bethlehem House" was dedicated in Hamburg, a shelter for homeless
women. Four sisters work there. The archtecturally conspicuous building cost
DM2.5 million. The fortunes of the order have not spent a penny toward the
amount. The money was collected by a Christian association in Hamburg. With
Mother T as figure head it was naturally short work to collect the millions.
Mother Teresa saw it as as her God given right never to have to
pay anyone for anything. Once she bought food for her nuns in London for
GB£500. When she was told she'd have to pay at the till, the diminutive
seemingly harmless nun showed her Balkan temper and shouted, "This is for
the work of God!" She raged so loud and so long that eventually a
businessman waiting in the queue paid up on her behalf.
England is one of the few countries where the sisters allow the
authorities at least a quick glance at their accounts. Here the order took in
DM5.3 million in 1991. And expenses (including charitable expenses)? -- around
DM360,000 or less than 7%. Whatever happened to the rest of the money? Sister
Teresina, the head for England, defensively states, "Sorry we can't tell
you that." Every year, according to the returns filed with the British
authorities, a portion of the fortune is sent to accounts of the order in other
countries. How much to which countries is not declared. One of the recipients
is however, always Rome. The fortune of this famous charitable organistaion is
controlled from Rome, -- from an account at the Vatican bank. And what happens
with monies at the Vatican Bank is so secret that even God is not allowed to
know about it. One thing is sure however -- Mother's outlets in poor countries
do not benefit from largesse of the rich countries. The official biographer of
Mother Teresa, Kathryn Spink, writes, "As soon as the sisters became
established in a certain country, Mother normally withdrew all financial
support." Branches in very needy countries therefore only receive start-up
assistance. Most of the money remains in the Vatican Bank.
STERN asked the Missionaries of Charity numerous times for
information about location of the donations, both in writing as well in person
during a visit to Mother Teresa's house in Calcutta. The order has never
answered.
"You should visit the House in New York, then you'll
understand what happens to donations," sayssays Eva Kolodziej. The
Polish lady was a Missionary of Charity for 5 years. "In the cellar of the
homeless shelter there are valuable books, jewellery and gold. What happens to
them? -- The sisters receive them with smiles, and keep them. Most of these lie
around uselessly forever."
The millions that are donated to the
order have a similar fate. Susan Shields (formerly Sr Virgin) says, "The
money was not misused, but the largest part of it wasn't used at all. When
there was a famine in Ethiopia, many cheques arrived marked 'for the hungry in
Ethiopia'. Once I asked the sister who was in charge of accounts if I should
add up all those very many cheques and send the total to Ethiopia. The sister
answered, 'No, we don't send money to Africa.' But I continued to make receipts
to the donors, 'For Ethiopia'."
By the accounts of former sisters, the
finances are a one way street. "We were always told, the fact
that we receive more than other orders, shows that God loves Mother Teresa
more. ," says Susan Shields. Donations and hefty bank balances are a
measure of God's love. Taking is holier than giving.
The sufferers are the ones for whom
the donations were originally intended. The nuns run a soup kitchen in New
York's Bronx. Or, to put in straight, they have it run for them, since
volunteer helpers organise everything, including food. The sisters might
distribute it. Once, Shields remembers, the helpers made an organisational
mistake, so they could not deliver bread with their meals. The sisters asked
their superior if they could buy the bread. "Out of the question -- we are
a poor organisation." came the reply. "In the end, the poor did not
get their bread," says Shields. Shields has experienced countless such incidents.
One girl from communion class did not appear for her first communion because
her mothet could not buy her a white communion dress. So she had to wait
another year; but as that particular Sunday approached, she had the same
problem again. Shields (Sr Virgin) asked the superior if the order could buy
the girl a white dress. Again, she was turned down -- gruffly. The girl never
had her first communion.
Because of the tightfistedness of the
rich order, the "poorest of the poor" -- orphans in India -- suffer
the most. The nuns run a home in Delhi, in which the orphans wait to be adopted
by, in many cases, by foreigners. As usual, the costs of running the home are
borne not by the order, but by the future adoptive parents. In Germany the
organisation called Pro Infante has the monopoly of mediation role for
these children. The head, Carla Wiedeking, a personal friend of Mother
Teresa's, wrote a letter to Donors, Supporters and Friends which ran:
"On my September vist I had to
witness 2 or 3 children lying in the same cot, in totally overcrowded rooms
with not a square inch of playing space. The behavioural problems arising as a
result cannot be overlooked." Mrs Wiedeking appeals to the generosity of
supporters in view of her powerlessness in the face of the children's great
needs. Powerlessness?! In an organisation with a billion-fortune, which has 3
times as much money available to it as UNICEF is able to spend in all of India?
The Missionaries of Charity has have the means to buy cots and build orphanages,
-- with playgrounds. And they have enoungh money not only for a handful orphans
in Delhi but for many thousand orphans who struggle for survival in the streets
of Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta.
Saving, in Mother Teresa's philosophy,
was a central value in itself. All very well, but as her poor organisation
quickly grew into a rich one, what did she do with her pictures, jewels,
inherited houses, cheques or suitcases full of money? If she wished to she
could now cater to people not by obsessively indulging in saving, but instead
through well thought-out spending. But the Nobel Prize winner did not want an
efficient organisation that helped people efficiently. Full of pride, she
called the Missionaries of Charity the "most disorganised organisation in
the world". Computers, typewriters, photocopiers are not allowed. Even
when they are donated, they are not allowed to be installed. For book-keeping
the sisters use school notebooks, in which they write in cramped pencilled
figures. Until they are full. Then everything is erased and the notebook used
again. All in order to save.
For a sustainable charitable system,
it would have been sensible to train the nuns to become nurses, teachers or
managers. But a Missionary of Charity nun is never trained for anything further.
Fueklled by her desire for
un-professionalism, Mother Teresa decisions from year to year became even more
bizarre. Once, says Susan Shields, the order bought am empty building from the
City of New York in order to look after AIDS patients. Purchase price: 1
dollar. But since handicapped people would also be using the house, NY City
management insisted on the installation of a lift (elevator). The offer of the
lift was declined: to Mother they were a sign of wealth. Finally the nuns gave
the building back to the City of New York.
While the Missionaries of Charity have
already witheld help from the starving in Ethiopia or the orphans in India --
despite having received donations in their names -- there are others who are
being actively harmed by the organisation's ideology of disorganisation. In
1994, Robin Fox, editor of the prestigious medical journal Lancet, in a
commentary on the catastrophic conditions prevailing in Mother Teresa's homes,
shocked the professional world by saying that any systematic operation was
foreign to the running of the homes in India: TB patients were not isolated,
and syringes were washed in lukewarm water before being used again. Even
patients in unbearable pain were refused strong painkillers, not because the
order did not have them, but on principle. "The most beautiful gift for a
person is that he can participate in the suffering of Christ," said Mother
Teresa. Once she had tried to comfort a screaming sufferer, "You are
suffering, that means Jesus is kissing you." The sufferer screamed back,
furious, "Then tell your Jesus to stop kissing me."
The English doctor Jack Preger once
worked in the home for the dying. He says, "If one wants to give love,
understanding and care, one uses sterile needles. This is probably the richest
order in the world. Many of the dying there do not have to be dying in a
strictly medical sense." The British newspaper Guardian described
the hospice as an "organised form of neglectful assistance".
It seems that the medical care of the
orphans is hardly any better. In 1991 the head of Pro Infante in Germany
sent a newsletter to adoptive parents:"Please check the validity of the
vaccinations of your children. We assume that in some case they have been
vaccinated with expired vaccines, or with vaccines that had been rendered
useless by improper strotage conditions." All this points to one thing,
something that Mother Teresa reiterated very frequently in her speeches and
addresses -- that she far more concerened with life after death than the mortal
life.
Mother Teresa's business was : Money
for a good conscience. The donors benefitted the most from this. The poor
hardly. Whosoever believed that Mother Teresa wanted to cahnge the world,
eliminate suffering or fight poverty, simply wanted to believe it for their own
sakes. Such people did not listen to her. To be poor, to suffer was a goal,
almost an ambition or an achievement for her and she imposed this goal upon
those under her wings; her actual ordained goal was the hereafter.
With growing fame, the founder of the
order became somewhat conscious of the misconceptioons on which the Mother
Teresa phenomenon was based. She wrote a few words and hung them outside Mother
House:
"Tell them we are not here for
work, we are here for Jesus. We are religious above all else. We are not social
workers, not teachers, not doctors. We are nuns."
One question then remains: For what,
in that case, do nuns need so much money?