PART 17: Antichrists revealed – Delibrate rebellion of the antichrist towards Christ

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.

Philosophy & ReligionReligious Movements & Organizations

Missionaries of Charity

Roman Catholic congregation

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Also known as: Order of the Missionaries of Charity

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Melissa Petruzzello

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Mother Teresa Mother Teresa, 1975.

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Missionaries of Charity,  Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to the destitute of India, founded by Mother Teresa in Kolkata in 1950. That same year the order received canonical sanction from Pope Pius XII, and in 1965 it became a pontifical congregation (subject only to the pope). Relying on donations from individuals, groups, and sometimes government funds, the Missionaries of Charity live simple lives of poverty and austerity and seek to minister to some of the most marginalized members of society, including orphans and abandoned children, the elderly, those with physical or mental disabilities, the homeless, the dying, and people afflicted with leprosy, addiction, or HIV/AIDS. By the first quarter of the 21st century, the order had about 5,000 sisters active in over 130 countries.

In 1946 Mother Teresa experienced her “call within a call,” which she considered divine inspiration to devote herself to caring for the sick and poor. She left her teaching position at a Kolkata school run by the Sisters of Loreto in 1948 and moved into the city’s slums, where she founded the Missionaries of Charity. There were 12 original sisters, many of whom had followed her from the school. Burdened by the hardships faced by the poor around her, Mother Teresa described her vision for the order:

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Order of the Missionaries of Charity

Areas Of Involvement: 

poverty

charity

Related People: 

Mother Teresa

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The aim of the Missionary Sisters of Charity is to devote themselves heart and soul and exclusively to the material and spiritual welfare of all destitute people, the helpless poor, neglected children, the abandoned sick, lepers, and deserving beggars—in short all those unfortunates who, either through their own neglect or through lack of public concern, are left to drift through life without help or hope.