NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      CALCUTTA, India (CWN) - Mother Teresa's religious order on Friday was told to mind its own business by the head of an Indian memorial committee after the order protested plans to erect a monument establish a "Mother Teresa Award" in her honor.

      Sister Nirmala, Mother Teresa's successor as head of the Missionaries of Charity, sent a letter to the memorial committee asking them to cease their plans. "... the Missionaries of Charity, abiding by Mother's spirit, asks that the plans for the erection of the statue, the renaming of Park Street, and the institution (of the award) be dropped; and that the Mother Teresa Memorial Committee, with its office and proposed bank account be dissolved immediately," Sister Nirmala's letter said.

      "I completely disapprove of setting up this committee and of its having its own office and bank account ... Mother did not allow any fundraising whatsoever to be conducted using her name," she said in the letter.

      Shyam Sundar Gupta, chairman of the committee, told reporters that he plans to go on despite the objections. "We have the government's permission," he said. The committee plans to erect a bronze statue at a cost of 800,000 rupees ($19,000) and wants to confer a "Mother Teresa Award" and rechristen Calcutta's Park Street "Mother Teresa Street." Gupta said in a written reply to Sister Nirmala, "Your uncalled-for interference is not only beyond your authority but also undermines the very dignity of Mother Teresa .... We would request you henceforth to please mind your own business."

      Mother Teresa, who won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize and was considered by many to be a living saint for her worldwide work for the poor and downtrodden, died on September 6, 1997 after nearly 50 years of service in India.