Rationalists doubt Teresa's miracle

The Missionaries of Charity is ignoring the controversy raised by a former Marxist minister and rationalists in Kolkata that Mother Teresa was not a miracle worker.

The "miracle" healing of an ovarian tumour of a woman named Monica Besra was recently authenticated by the Congre-gation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican and is a step towards her beatification.

The controversy was triggered by a comment from a former Marxist health minister, Partha De, in West Bengal, saying: "Monica was cured of her ailment by medicine. I mean no disrespect to Mother Teresa but it is stretching the truth to say that it was a miracle worked by her. I was the state health minister at the time Besra got her treatment at the state-run hospital."

Prabir Ghosh, general secretary of the Kolkata-based Science and Rationalist Assoc-iation of India, said yesterday that Mother Teresa was being elevated to sainthood for all the wrong reasons.

"We challenge the claim made by the Missionaries of Charity who say that Monica Besra's tumour was cured by the act of placing a medal of Mother Teresa on her stomach," said Ghosh.

"It will be a shame for Mother Teresa to be considered for sainthood based on false claims and lies. She deserves to be considered a saint for her selfless services to Kolkata's poor."

The Vatican rejected claims by the rationalists that its attribution of a miracle to Mother Teresa was based on "lies".