Christopher Hitchens, a famous British-American writer, journalist, and public intellectual, is one of those who criticized Mother Teresa the strongest. When she is regarded as an example of compassionate, humble and devoted servant of humanity, Hitchens claims that there are a number of uneasy questions hidden behind the glorifying picture of the nun. Hitchens’ criticism was delivered to the world in the form of his book Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice and a documentary called Hell’s Angel. Contrary to those who admired her work and considered it inviolable, Hitchens thinks that every celebrity engaged in humanitarian activity needs to be critically evaluated, especially considering their large audience.
One of the main ideas of Hitchens is that Mother Teresa’s approach consisted in acceptance of suffering rather than in struggle against the factors leading to it. He criticized the religious understanding of poverty, which sometimes turned into suffering that has spiritual value. According to Hitchens, suffering of poor and ill people for Mother Teresa was a part of the suffering of Jesus Christ.
This concept was greatly rejected by Hitchens. He stated that poverty, diseases, and misery should not be regarded as noble experiences but rather social problems that need a solution. In his view, a humanitarian worker should strive at eliminating the cause of such problems by educating people, improving their economic situation and giving proper healthcare and social reforms instead of comforting people who suffer. One of the biggest criticisms raised by Hitchens related to how Missionaries of Charity – the organization created by Mother Teresa worked. The author stated that the centers run by them provided patients with substandard care and failed to provide the level of assistance expected for healthcare centers. He stated that some patients were receiving minimal medical attention even though the center had good reputation all over the world and was getting donations from many places. The image of exceptional humanitarian work that the name of Missionaries of Charity created contradicted what really happened in some of their centers. In Hitchens’ view, they were only providing minimum help instead of investing money into proper medicine.
The financial policy of Mother Teresa and her organisation is another issue that Christopher Hitchens addressed. He wondered why the organisation that collected funds from all over the world did not spend more resources to build better medical facilities and to improve the conditions in their homes. For him, transparency and responsibility are vital elements in any organisation which claims to represent the poor. The next criticism of Mother Teresa raised by Hitchens concerned the link between charity and proselytism. According to him, Mother Teresa’s mission was not exclusively humanitarian but was also religious. He asked whether people, who are vulnerable because of being ill or poor, can freely choose religion when they depend on charitable organisations.
As evidence, he pointed out the statements of Mother Teresa herself and the missionary character of the organisation she founded. In his opinion, charity has nothing to do with missionary activities. Mother Teresa is also criticised by Hitchens for accepting money and cooperating with the persons that were questionable. According to Hitchens, a person who serves as a moral example should pay more attention to the sources of money and people who cooperate with him/her.
However, not everyone agreed with Hitchens’ critique. Defenders of Mother Teresa suggested that she served neglected people and brought dignity to people without any support from society. Her goal was not to build hospitals but to serve neglected people.
Nevertheless, Christopher Hitchens made a great contribution into raising the debate about the nature of Mother Teresa’s works and the issue of charity. Thanks to his arguments, the questions about the essence of charity were raised and people started thinking about the necessity to change the current situation instead of providing temporary help to poor people. The debate raised by Christopher Hitchens is one of the most outstanding critiques of Mother Teresa’s image.