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.

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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?