The Church in Service of the Depressed People: A Case Study of Mother Teresa

Abstract

Scholars in different field of studies have tried to view the activities of the Christian missionaries in different perspectives. While some have branded them imperialists, others have viewed them to have contributed to the socio-development of the societies in which they worked. This paper lends voice to the views of those who have argued that although the missionaries have had their weaknesses, they have contributed immensely to the social development of the societies in which they operated. More so, they did not only work with the able but, also among the disabled providing succor to their lives. To achieve the set objectives, the researcher seeks to provide a historical analysis of the activities of Mother Teresa among the depressed class of the societies in Calcutta India. She worked with a class of persons whom ordinarily most if not all Africans would have written off as hopeless, and in fact unwanted in the society. The paper appeals generally to people and the African society in particular to emulate the missionaries by treating the depressed people well, providing the enabling environment for them s to contribute their quota to the development of the societies in which they lived,