The Missionaries of Charity have begun rationing their food distribution to the poor following the Indian government's decision to prohibit non-profit organizations from receiving donations from abroad.
The missionaries normally assist some 600 people at their motherhouse in Kolkata and at their Shishu Bhavan children's orphanage. Their breakfast on January 2nd was one hour shorter than usual, meaning it lacked tea, bread, and eggs, according to the Catholic News Service of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Abdul Razzak, a 45-year-old beggar, has been waiting outside the motherhouse since Christmas trying to obtain food and medicine from the missionaries. He has received a daily meal since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Catholic News Service. Razzak said the sisters told him and others in need, "that we may no longer be able to collect food."
A woman and her family normally collect food at the Kolkata orphanage. They survive the winter thanks to provisions from the Missionaries of Charity, but now they fear they will not survive the winter. The expected blankets have not arrived. The mother, Rosy, lives on the street with her blind husband and her four children aged eight and under.
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Although foreign donations are not permitted for the time being, donations from within India are helping some works to continue, such as in the neighboring state of Odisha, formerly known as Orissa.
"The government of the state of Orissa has confirmed that their supplies would continue in these difficult times," Sister Dominic Mary, a Missionary of Charity based in Odisha, told Catholic News Service. "If other state governments also support us, perhaps this phase will pass," she said.
On December 25th, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs ruled that the Missionaries of Charity no longer met the eligibility conditions for foreign donations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Authorities subsequently cited unspecified "adverse inputs" in the organization's application to renew its status.
This decision has caused surprise and concern among supporters of the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa, of Albanian origin, based in Calcutta. Mother Teresa became world-renowned for her work serving the poor and abandoned in the slums of Kolkata. She died in September 1997 and Pope Francis canonized her in 2016 as Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Since Mother Teresa founded the first community of the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, the organization has expanded to hundreds of houses around the world. Its members include religious sisters, brothers, and priests, as well as an organization of laypeople.
Foreign donations to the Missionaries of Charity in India amounted to more than $13 million for the fiscal year ending March 2021, according to its documents. The organization does not publicly disclose its total revenue, according to The New York Times.
Last week, Sunita Kumar, spokesperson for the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, told The New York Times that she was confident the legal eligibility issue could be resolved. She indicated that funding for the missionaries' work would not be immediately affected due to local support.
These legal issues arise against a backdrop of political, social, and religious tensions. The Indian national government and many state governments are led by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which promotes a vehement nationalist vision of Hinduism.
Eight Indian states have adopted so-called anti-conversion laws. Some critics of Christianity and other minority religions in India make allegations of forced conversion or proselytism, inducing conversion through fear, bribery, or the superstitious use of healing prayers.
Police in Gujarat, a state in western India, are investigating a complaint that girls at a home run by the Missionaries of Charity were forced to read the Bible and wear a cross.
Kumar, the spokesperson for the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, dismissed this allegation in comments to The New York Times.
"I have worked here for 45 years and nothing like this has ever happened," she said.
There have also been issues of religious extremism. Around Christmas 2021, Hindu self-defense groups engaged in protests, disruptions at churches, harassment, and vandalism. Some smashed statues of Christ or burned effigies of Santa Claus or accused Christians of using Christmas gifts and festivities to lure or force Hindus to convert, reports The Guardian.
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