the problem of suffering

[gnosis_within]

Mother Teresa's diary reveals her crisis of faith
By Bruce Johnston in Rome
(Filed: 29/11/2002)


Mother Teresa, who was put on the fast track to
sainthood by the Pope after her death five years ago,
was tormented by a crisis of belief for 50 years, her
writings reveal.

Her letters and diaries present a completely different
picture of the nun and Nobel peace prize winner from
her public image as a woman confident of her faith.

Biographies would have to be rewritten to take the
revelation into account, it was said in Rome
yesterday.

The previously unpublished material is to be brought
out as a volume in Italy. It was collected by Roman
Catholic authorities in Calcutta after her death at
the age of 87.

Mother Teresa, who worked for years among the poor of
Calcutta, wrote in 1958: "My smile is a great cloak
that hides a multitude of pains."

Because she was "forever smiling", people thought "my
faith, my hope and my love are overflowing and that my
intimacy with God and union with his will fill my
heart. If only they knew . . ."

Mother Teresa, who was greatly admired by Diana,
Princess of Wales, said in another letter: "The damned
of Hell suffer eternal punishment because they
experiment with the loss of God.

"In my own soul, I feel the terrible pain of this
loss. I feel that God does not want me, that God is
not God and that he does not really exist."

Il Messeggero, Rome's popular daily newspaper, said:
"The real Mother Teresa was one who for one year had
visions and who for the next 50 had doubts - up until
her death."

Her years of doubt coincided with the period when,
after having visions, she decided to leave her
teaching post at a privileged Calcutta school to help
India's poor.

After her death the Pope waived the Vatican rule that
prohibits investigation of the cause for beatification
until five years after the subject's death. It was the
first time the rule had been put aside in recent
memory.

Mother Teresa's personal writings are being published
next month as Il Segreto di Madre Teresa (Mother
Teresa's Secret).

[gnosis_within]

is the pain and suffering of millions of people enough to disprove the existence of an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful god?

[SHATOUSHKA]

you already know this answer....


yes

[soulfilms]

i suppose these were unearthed by the vautican's devil's advocates?

[SHATOUSHKA]

you know... the first time i heard about this...
the first thing that ran through my mind was:

how surprisingly fast this news caught wind.
i can't determine if society just has a flare
for controversy...
or if the church has lost all power for covering it up
(or at least detaining it)

[soulfilms]

i think this makes mother theresa a REAL flesh and blood person, rather than the virgin mary incarnate (grown old). if you don't doubt your religion, then you cannot truly believe in it either.

those who have doubted are much more credible than those who have blind faith.

[soulfilms]

on the media issue...

yes the media inflames itself in times of controversy. but it is not wholely the media's fault. we the consumers of media want this information, want to be titilated by naughty religious doings and want to be inflamed by a sense of righteousness.

so we feed off each other in a very vicious cycle.

[SHATOUSHKA]

its true...

i would respect and appreciate someone for
showing doubt as opposed to blind faith.

i wonder how that affects her 'saint' status with the pope

[soulfilms]

well, even peter doubted..

[TastinGood]

did he?