什么是泰瑞莎修女

Teresa (of Calcutta), Mother，原名Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu。

出生於阿尔巴尼亚的修女，天主教仁爱传教会的创建人。她曾是一个杂货商的女儿，後来前往印度成为修女。後学习护理，并迁入贫民窟行善。1948年泰瑞莎创建仁爱会以救济盲人、老者、麻疯病人、残废人和生命垂危者。1963年印度政府因其所为授予她「莲花主」勳章。1971教宗保禄六世为泰瑞莎颁发第一届教宗若望二十三世和平奖。1979年她又获得诺贝尔和平奖。尽管泰瑞莎晚年患有心脏病，但是她还是继续为穷人和病人服务，并申言反对离婚、节育和堕胎等。泰瑞莎的仁爱会在九十多个国家拥有数百个服务中心，约4000名修女及数百名法律工作者。後来在印度出生的诺玛拉修女继承了她的事业，泰瑞莎逝世两年後宣布她为圣人，教宗若望.保禄二世也发表特许公告对其加以赞扬。

1910～1997年

Teresa (of Calcutta), Mother

Albanian-born nun, founder of the Roman Catholic Order of the Missionaries of Charity. The daughter of a grocer, she became a nun and went to India as a young woman. After studying nursing, she moved to the slums; in 1948 she founded her order, which served the blind, the aged, lepers, the disabled, and the dying. In 1963 the Indian government awarded her the Padmashri (“Lord of the Lotus”) for her services to the people of India, and in 1971 Pope Paul VI awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize. Although in her later years she suffered from a worsening heart condition, Mother Teresa continued to serve the poor and sick and also spoke out against divorce, contraception, and abortion. Her order included hundreds of centers in more than 90 countries with some 4,000 nuns and hundreds of thousands of lay workers. She was succeeded by the Indian-born Sister Nirmala. The process to declare her a saint began within two years of her death, and Pope John Paul II issued a special dispensation to expedite the process.