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The Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic order founded by Mother Teresa (1910–1997) in Calcutta in 1950 and officially recognised as a Congregation of Pontifical Right by Pope Paul VI in 1965.[FN1 https://missionariesofcharity.org/about_us.html and https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/de/letters/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_20001017_missionaries-charity.html, accessed 19.5.2024.] Today, some 5,000 sisters are active in over 130 countries running institutions for the care of children and for sick, homeless and dying people.[FN2 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Missionaries-of-Charity, accessed 19.5.2024.]
In 1955, Mother Teresa opened a first home for 'abandoned children', the Nirmala Shishu Bhavan in Calcutta.[FN3 https://missionariesofcharity.org/our-history-read-more.html, accessed 19.5.2024]. The Missionaries of Charity, who also ran children's homes in other cities in India, worked with selected organisations in Switzerland. These included Terre des Hommes in Lausanne, Jo Millar's Divali Adoption Service in the canton of Geneva and Helga Ney's adoption agency in the canton of Vaud.[FN4 Sabine Bitter, "The Role of Adoption Agencies in the Placement of Children from India in Switzerland" in: Andrea Abraham, Sabine Bitter, Rita Kesselring (ed.), Mother Unknown. Adoption of Children from India in the Swiss Cantons of Zurich and Thurgau, 1973–2002, Zurich 2004, p. 139–171.]
After Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she was able to count on support from prominent celebrities. Queen Elizabeth visited her in Delhi in 1983,[FN5 https://www.andmeetings.com/blog/post/when-queen-elizabeth-ii-met-mother-teresa, accessed 19.5.2024.] Lady Diana shook her hand in a hospice in Calcutta,[FN6 https://www.domradio.de/artikel/zum-20-todestag-von-prinzessin-diana, accessed 19.5.2024.] and US President Ronald Reagan, an anti-abortionist, awarded her the Medal of Freedom in 1985.[FN 7 https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-presenting-presidential-medal-freedom-mother-teresa, accessed 19.5.2024.] She is said to have had both his telephone number and that of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.[FN8 https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/40837-sie-hatte-reagans-telefonnummer-vor-25-jahren-starb-mutter-teresa]
