Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: Mother Teresa Talks with William F. Buckley Jr.

funding for firing line is made possible by the financial support of viewers like you and by a major grant from the John M Olin Foundation Incorporated additional support is provided by the Mobil Corporation Farley Industries Incorporated monarch financial services incorporated Paine Webber and the Friends of firing line when Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in the citation and said as he was the living symbol of the ties between the pool world and the affluent world and Malcolm Muggeridge wrote about her in his book something beautiful for God and said that the experience of her presence was in his experience which is vast unique this program is designed as a forum for the exchange of opinions I would like to think that I would suppress any opinions of my own that differed from other Teresa's and I propose therefore be inordinately gratefully quiet as I as we are listen to her she does not gladly answer like wrathful questions so let it be this simple that she was born in 1915 in Albania that she felt a vocation to serve as a Catholic nun when she was 15 but some years later she went to Calcutta and a few years after that founded her own order the missionaries to charity whose concern is to use the phrase to use it so often to serve the poorest of the poor I hope it is significant remark that it is the fastest-growing order in the Christian community but I'm wasting your time and so telling to mother Teresa to ask why did God permit pain to give us the opportunity to shed in the fashion of Christ asked me to arrange all this fashion but we the pass along with us and he won't work to repair for all the things that we have done or do and thought it is a very beautiful opportunity for us to share the passion of christ is a gift of love like for example once and method lady was terrible pain of cancer and I told her the things about the case of Jesus assigned if you have come so close to Jesus of the cross that he can kiss you and then lady though she wasn't a great friend she enjoyed their hand together and said mother Teresa please tell Jesus to stop kissing me but you touch very amusingly on the point I think most people would raise at this juncture which is a Christ entered willingly into his own passion but most human beings that are unwillingly in the pain I don't know it depends what is in their own hearts then if their idea if they pray I think very easy to accept because the fruit of prayer is always a clean heart and a clean our can single can see the gift can understand that's very very important for us to learn okay well I think you're you're correct but I'm not sure that that answers the question of those who haven't achieved that serenity and affected by pain but you will be surprised how much people so for example awful people in India a Content another protein turn that content you can't you are housed here in Washington the home of peace gift of peace you would be surprised to see on the suffering places your beautiful smile don't have parents suffering and then it left consent to coming it short last together depends Allah says how we help them to access suffering that's a gift for sharing a little down with something like that until up clips and instead of taking you down well I I know that you understand it as being the most significant part of your mission to provide not only food and shelter but love and and they are blessed to come under your care but you're harming Authority of people don't have that opportunity what is God doing to them and that is why it is important it is very important that we share we share with them the joy of longing well I think you're right but I'm talking about those who so vastly outnumber those that you're able to take care of but I'm say even ordinary people and that's his friend Jesus Christ came to show us to give that tender love to each other and and to make it easy for us to love we said whatever you do to the list to do it to me I was hungry I was naked Albert unless I was sick I was in triggered you know not all this thing's for that we can do something for them and for the word we do for them it is all love for God in action we beautiful and it's very beautiful much we could touch that love like that with the people like anything against a new joy well I happen to agree with you but well when when when Christ said be poor we will always have with us was he making an economic point or was he making a spiritual toy although we have bought in meant both this will all not find a spiritual forward much more difficult even our spiritual father to much wonder 7 before the sphere because material poverty if I pick up a person hungry I was given the food as I've removed a bit away or if his field shivering this cold I give him a blanket has removed it but been lonely wonder the one heard that I find in the shut-ins in the Bethel of countries is something food because to make up for that love that they are hungry for I like morning it's important to prayer and through love and through to the shared edge of loving with the suffering like that and to remove us to the love of Christ bring Christ love into their life well in your vision does is prayer efficacious even with those poor with whom you don't come into contact yes I think I pray for this well on all many people prayed I guess well when when Christ said that the poo you will always have with you did he mean that there will never be enough prayer to leave humankind of the poor and I'm no Herod I never thought of that but I thought name that it is necessary for us to remember that we have our brothers and sisters will always be and it's something very beautiful his concern is compassion and for the poor and I only again again out there forces give him something to you he has compassion on this not only after feeding them he so I think this is under the suitable opportunity for us all to share the joy of loving by putting our love for God in the living action III don't deny that but before you can help with spiritual poverty you have to help with material poverty people have to eat not it's a biological predicament er why given the fact that you depend so heavily on material support do you decline to do any fundraising the truth because we have vowed to God in our congregation we have well poverty while chastity obedience lack on the congregation's hand and decide that in our society we take a fourth law to give wholehearted free service to the fullest on the pool and we don't have fundraising or anything like that but if you think we place on divine providence like the flowers and the birds and beautiful beautiful things in the world that you see birds and animals and flowers and all kinds of things and they don't work they don't go and get to beautifully the produce God's beauty first and up till now I have never never never had to tell any of our poor people who don't have now they're here and the rain of fun we are we have now four hundred two houses around the world in 80 countries and yet and yet things with the letters you deal with their time the aides like the states to have three places they have New York Washington San Francisco yes it is opportunity for the people to share in the joy of nothing that resides a wonderful gift or go to the city to have a place like that and people can come well when when Malcolm Muggeridge did his famous our interview with you for many years ago in London there was he wrote in his book tremendously when up tremendous uh people who wanted to express their appreciation of your work by contributing to it now but you made no appeal directly on that program but would you be offended if if I were to mention that your order would accept yes you can no that's not something sharing I want the people to share and by giving therefore examples in offense and you shared then you give something until it hurts where where's the people so inclined send again every day to the silver sphere in the people rushing to Nevada bounty did they give it to the system because I wanted people to see before it's not so much the Gilliam I want them to touch the truth to feel the joy of loving well some people can do that and and some people can be in the end as well if you wanted open by sources I get many wonderful delicious from five dollars two hundred maybe like that some people from the poor from Teresa from all over the world were defended a saint in Calcutta we remain essential Calcutta mentioned in the advances to the place where the chief Sousa well you know much about the United States man a gigantic Calcutta might does not arise Kali any political life it was the difficulty then I asking to the government and of the absolutely everything comes well it this would be a check made out to mission eyes is Calcutta husband only breath you need is this one in no sector neck bruiser 54 a 54 a Lord says the little I didn't get the word Oh never he nor Laura circus no circle in job about the 1654 a lower circle road 16 16 yes oh but no difficulty but I love the people to share the joy of love to come and touch the people I don't want the people to give this on their abundance I want them to shake yes well are the when we know that done that on a great many women have joined your order and over the past 20 years that your order has grown almost inversely with the diminution of many other orders but to what extent is there lay participation in your move all very much we also have blemishes or charity married people who served as a outside foreign language but the different and they live their own married life but very everything is from the people we have absolutely nothing you don't like the government ground you don't have judgmentalism nothing we are like the flowers and the bird and then it is always the divine produce exist well never beautiful sponsor we spend unless in love now we give you one very beautiful example and we have many this answer is yes mobile clinics all in all in Calcutta recommend a man came to me and said my only child is dying and doctor has prescribed this medicine and cannot be good in India we have to get it from England - I have come to you so I could imagine I have permission from our governor government to get any medicine and anytime from anywhere I was just thinking how to do it how to let who to contact and then a man came with a basket of medicine I have people who go from house to house and pick up leftover medicine and they bring it to us you need first-class medicine and then we give up to the food people suggested that time and hand came this a basket of medicine and right on the top it was that never finger as a fan that I lead and it was definitely had twelve tablets and I looked into the finger at first I was there and if it was inside I will not have screams and if it was anything and if you had come before or after can either watch anything but tenderness of God's love done for that slum Kasner I think God has nothing else to do it unions and unions and we fulfil them in the world and God's concern for that little child in the slums of Calcutta - same that man at that time to take trouble to put in medicine on the top it would be back what she pointed up on the thing and the child was said well I know that you're responsible for saving the lives of thousands of our children in Calcutta and elsewhere are you often accosted with the question what is the world going to do about the excess of population for instance in India and in China never there never could be an advantage Cinderella because because I said that God's concerned admit our concern and it does that does that end the discussion you're saying that I think that is concerned as I have no answer no yeah neither you nor I can answer that so the future we don't know what the model grant happens we have only today yesterday is gone tomorrow has not come but it doesn't the garden and join us to try guided no here's only that is we are not a world that's like look not only concern I think we are bound in conscious to do everything possible to help the people to and to be concerned how to help what to do and that's why pleasure for us to learn and to share and owners very important and to have that concern awesome it is but we have to decide that before conception don't after if this consider chance we have to decide the for conception not after the confession because not on the chance and that child has right to live as right this is your eyes met little oneness little unborn child has ten percent right to live because it has been created objecting to love and to be loved if it has food lunch let's make anybody in that in Hinduism in India is there a position on abortion or are they 19 or indifferent no I mean the people in India it says he's not so overcoming the country as the but it is very thrilled that our old people and the middle-class people don't do abortion small in the higher places they say like that and because our people are content but in mr. Nagaraju book on you he remarks that with the Indian equivalent of the sexual revolution in America in the West there are many more illegitimate children born to teenage mothers in India and many of them are deposited in this left and bump from those as he calls in dustbins many of them are delivered to you not very sorry very sorry I don't know and only once in all these years or who only once picked up a chance from the dusty and usually here for you met a male abandoned oh yes and no not so many nothing but not that from the time we have our homeless first of all we are fighting abortion by adoption and second although we have this malnutrition centers and bring the children to our places and so on and without poor people even without put people there is much much much much less much less any when they are buying frozen much less and and to what do you attribute that no because they know the presence of the sisters in India we are in hundred fifty seven places and forever this sister sound that people don't feel child in the state languages and they know where to come without mother you mentioned that you have three there are three sites in in America where your order doesn't work can you relay me so what can you explain why a nation is a fluent as our own should have such problems as we know they have an in here or is it primarily the spiritual poverty is a different problem here huh how would you describe your example in India when you don't have no eggs for example I don't know maybe inside they will discover them but I can share it in this Western countries in the much fun much more drug addiction is very all over the place setting well are you saying that your your child will work in this country shatters on people who are suffering from AIDS no for anything we have leave their homes surrounded mothers they have some preachers we have all kinds of unique because whatever we do in India window 0du may not be that we don't as for many people picking up from the faith like we do in India or Africa but there are many many people that are in the street of years and Washington and London many many people and how do you communicate with these people expressing some person good night from 9:00 to de-stress and taking to give them food then click that is the cold time to do them and then we have a center in every place we have I felt like here in Washington they had a big soup kitchen that the people can come for 200 company this would not have had anything and we can have a bath you can have some change of clothes even if exacting clay it's a beautiful thing yes III know it is but beyond bathing them and giving them food and shelter what do you see also to do is to give them something else right and then beginning for those at 8 and also we give them that I keep them to pray the students to love God to love each other and then important and and many of many of them especially in your your hostel in Calcutta which is designed to people who are but I survive and join the order the right no I know now home for the day that they pick up people from the street who would that died in the statement will bring them to our home and we have picked up from the streets of Calcutta 54,000 and over 25,000 have died including for death with us I'm a balance balance we have been rehabilitated found out something they have gone out there come and those who are badly disabled or anything we took them to touch till the day they bounced and now is India the only place where you have to hold our island we have all over everything everything all you are you doing New York we have a home for today in Manhattan and on August for the people who are sick many have died that are you intending to go to China yes please good as we have a death open in Russia and we had this averted with the people that suffered with this earthquake and then we have saying get down in South Africa they're going now to Bucharest and we are in Cuba many places mother what provisions have been made assuming it were possible to make them for your successors that in God's hands like everything else better you can meet and find somebody yes and did you spend a great deal of your time visiting your various branches or you try to play mostly in Calcutta uh no not that we have so many places and they have formation center like today twelve of our sisters took final vows two laws for life ameri-ghen cleavage and then like that we have San Francisco we have all their formation centers and we have in Africa having grown men in Poland Philippines and so these are open I got less successful because we are still very then close family and these are young women in relation to making up and in your experience as I understand it most of them stay with you oh yeah I mean seeing the condom really has and a regular release life huh we have four hours of fair every day I have get up early morning up at 4:00 in the morning begin the spread of medication when we go house and the keeper I'm saving on out of time [Music] [Music] funding for firing line is made possible by the financial support of viewers like you and by a major grant from the John M Olin Foundation Incorporated additional support is provided by the Mobil Corporation Farley Industries Incorporated monarch Financial Services Incorporated Paine Webber and the Friends of firing line this program was produced by Sica which is solely responsible for its content for a printed bound transcript of this program send three dollars to firing line post office box fifty nine sixty six Columbia South Carolina two nine two five zero indicate the subject of the program and please allow three weeks for delivery [Music]

Channel: Firing Line with William F. Buckley, Jr.

Views: 174,498

Rating: 4.7869821 out of 5

Keywords: Firing Line, William F. Buckley Jr, Mother Teresa, Calcutta, Interviews, India, Nuns, Missionaries of Charity, Catholicism, Christianity, Religion

Id: 3__jvGa5L6Y

Length: 28min 23sec (1703 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 03 2017