'She thought being poor was good': A new documentary throws light on the 'darker side' of Mother Teresa

A new documentary on Mother Teresa reportedly brings to light the darker side of the 'saint.'

Mother Teresa: For the Love of God is a new, three-part Sky documentary series "which talks to some of her closest friends and bitterest critics and serves as a thorough reappraisal of one of the most famous women of the last century," reports Daily Mail.

Mary Johnson, who worked with Mother Teresa for 20 years, says, "Her spirituality was connected to Jesus on the cross."

"She thought being poor was good because Jesus was poor. It's schizophrenic," Mary Johnson was quoted as saying by the report. 

Mother Teresa covered up for the worst excesses of the Catholic church and seemed more attracted to poverty and pain than actually helping people escape it, the report says from the claims made by the documentary which will be telecast on Sky Documentaries in May 9.

More importantly, the last decade of Mother Teresa's life was perhaps the most difficult.  She was struggling with old age, but the church was calling on her to help save it from the growing scandal of child abuse by priests. 

"They would send her to towns where scandals were being unearthed," says Mary. "She could change the story." 

How much did she know? It's impossible to say but, as revealed in the show, when Reverend Donald McGuire was suspected of abuse, she wrote a letter to the authorities insisting on her 'confidence and trust' in him. 

It left him free to abuse hundreds of boys for another decade, the Daily Mail report further adds.

According to Virgin Radio UK, Poppy Dixon, director of docs and factual at Sky, said: "In its first year, Sky Documentaries has seen stellar performances for films and series that cement the channel as the home of world-class and diverse real-life stories that span the globe."

ALSO READ | Missionaries of charity completed 71 years of service among the poor

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, in August 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. At the age of eighteen, she joined the Sisters of Loreto. Later, she reached India and became a nun. On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, “The Missionaries of Charity”, which is now spread all over the world. She died on September 5, 1997.