What was the lifestyle of Mother Teresa?

Answer 1

A:

Mother Teresa lived well. When travelling, which she did often, she always went in the first class section or in the private plane provided for her use by Charles Keating, who was later convicted of fraud. She sought out and used the best medical facilities around the world when her own health required treatment, and even had her bedroom, in the order's Motherhouse, fitted out with with expensive, sophisticated cardiac equipment because of her heart condition.

This lifestyle contrasts with the conditions she insisted on for inmates of her hospices or even the members of the order she founded. She cared for those with leprosy, but did not provide the antibiotics that would have cured them. She cared for the dying destitute, but refused to provide strong painkillers, even for those with the unbearable pain of cancer. When New York City offered to pay for the mandated installation of an elevator in a building donated to the order for use as a refuge for homeless people, this was refused as a 'luxury' because the sisters could carry disabled men down the stairs. Notwithstanding her own private lifestyle, Mother Teresa demanded that her order maintain ostentatious humility in public.

Catholic Answer:

Mother Teresa had her critics, critics who did not bother to check their facts but continue today to spread their disinformation. Mother Teresa never claimed to operate a primary care medical facility. Neither she nor her Missionaries of Charity were medically trained. She offered shelter and comfort to those who were dying and had no place else to go. As to offering strong pain killers, due to both culture as well as legalities, she could not do so. Opiates and other strong pain killers were virtually impossible for even recognized medical facilities to obtain. It was not until 2012 that India loosened the laws a bit making it somewhat easier for recognized medical facilities to obtain these drugs. Even if she had been able to obtain painkillers, who would administer them? She had no medical people on her staff and many physicians in India will not touch the 'untouchables' who were Mother Teresa's clients.

Others claim that, while she ignored the suffering of the poor, she sought the best of medical treatment for herself in foreign countries. It just happens that when Mother Teresa suffered a medical emergency, she was traveling abroad. One heart attack occurred while she was visiting the Holy Father in Rome. Another occurred when she was seriously injured in a fall while visiting Mexico. What was she to tell her hosts? "Don't treat me here, put me back on a plane to India so I can receive treatment there."