There was a time when the Roman Catholic confessional was sacrosanct. A murderer could confess remorse for his crime, secure in the knowledge the priest would never reveal the facts to anyone. It seems those days are no longer with us. Today, there is money to be made from the spiritual doubts and human frailties declared in confidence to the Catholic confessors who play at being God, and now pay only lip service to that long-retired human dignity once called ‘honor’.
Mother Teresa was an icon to some, a prime example of how goodness can manifest in human form, to many. Now, ten years after her death, the woman who devoted her life to caring for those in need, is being betrayed by the Church of Rome, a church she faithfully served for nearly sixty years.
Letters she wrote to her confessors, pouring forth her doubts, the spiritual darkness and loneliness in which she spent most of her life, were no different from the outpourings of any Catholic parishioner confined within the confidence of the confessional. Mother Teresa recognized that fact, leaving strict instructions that all her letters be burned, destroyed, and on no account made public.
The Church of Rome has chosen to disregard Mother Teresa’s last wishes and is selling the letters to the highest bidder. Heading the queue, having secured first serial rights, is Time magazine.
It has to be wondered why the Church of Rome has chosen this time to publicize its stunning portrayal of Judas Iscariot. Could it, one ponders, have anything to do with the empty coffers following recent heavy payouts after the “little boys for Catholic clergymen” scandals that erupted like suppurating sores all over the body of the Roman Church?
The late nun’s letters disclosing her spiritual agonies, her isolation from the savior she dutifully served, are worth plenty on the open market. Catholics worldwide will rush to savor the intimate disclosures. Amazon will undoubtedly thrust it high on their bestseller list. El Popey’s coffers will once again resound to the tinkle of silver; this time, no doubt, many more than thirty pieces.
It would seem, despite all her manifest good works, Mother Teresa, the “Saint of the Gutters”, is worth more to the Roman Catholic church dead, than she ever was alive.
No doubt any peripheral feelings of guilt will be easily assuaged when they proclaim her a Saint.
Filed under: Is nothing sacred
What do you think of this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q1m-8npkJ4
Me again. This is also interesting: http://www.ahealedplanet.net/racket.htm
Flimsy – there will always be critics, and my own opinion is that “Saints” are manufactured by the Church more for advertising purposes than because of their ‘saintly’ lifestyles. It’s really more a question of how much of the less-saintly part of their lives, they or the Church can manage to cover up. I don’t doubt Mother Teresa was misguided. We now know she was self-tortured and saw her own deep spiritual suffering as an example to be followed by others as well as herself. This idea was carefully fed to her by the Catholic Church, in responses from her confessor priests. I do believe Mother Teresa believed in what she was doing, that she was no fraud. Also, that the bulk of the money raised found its way into the Vatican’s coffers. She is perhaps one of the best examples of how efficient the human mind is at soaking up indoctrination, to the denial of all that is logic and common sense, even to the eventual exclusion of basic human love.
Human beings seem to need extreme examples of goodness and godliness to look up to and admire. The Churches have become past masters at creating them. Sadly, no human is that good, that perfect. We are all just animals with self-awareness – ego. Digging deep enough will surely expose weaknesses to topple any hero from his pedestal. Though, if I had to spend eternity with any of them, I would unhesitatingly choose Mother Teresa as my companion, rather than Penn and Teller, or the insufferable Christopher Hitchins.
In a better world such money-grubbing would not happen. I think you have a point in suggesting the church needs the money because of the costs of the priest-pedophile scandal.
Very sad.
Equally sad is the fact that i’ll probably read those confessions.
Is she supposed to have been ABOVE Christ? “Father, why have you forsaken me?”
Not that I think any of this crap is real or relevant. A few mummified Popes behind glass in St. Peters COMPLETELY cure me of all that.
January 7/07
I am currently reading “Mother Teresa Come Be My Light” – The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta. I will do my best to refrain from any coment on the writings “Betrayal of the Saint of the Gutters” or of my interpretation of the author.
(I am about 3/4 through the book). Prior to reading what I have read so far I knew what any lay person would know about this woman.
Since reading the book noted above, I have learned from here private writings that she devoted herself not to the ‘poor of the gutters’ (or anywhere else for that matter), but to the calling of Jesus. In her work she carried her cross completely and absolutely (seen through her various acts of charity and love).
Letter after letter after letter for years upon years Mother Teresa struggled to her ‘confessors’ of an intense darkness. She came to realize that her darkness was the spiritual side of her work, a sharing in Christ’s redemptive suffering. This realization came from her letters back and forth to the church.
Mother Teresa struggled her full life to bring souls to Christ. You would require faith to understand the publication of here letters and how these publications will continue her work long after her death. It is stated well on page 214 “No one can long for God unless God is present in his her heart”
Mother Teresa has profoundly affected my spiritual journey through her letters, and I thank thoes responsible for their publication.