Was Bengali tribal woman cured miraculously?

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, AUG. 19. A Bengali tribal woman holds the key to whether Mother Teresa would be declared a saint, or beatified in the first instance. The woman's claim that she was miraculously cured of an ``incurable'' tumour with the posthumous blessings of the Mother is being weighed by the Vatican as it ``fast tracks'' the canonisation of Calcutta's most famous nun.

A miracle is a pre-requisite for beatification and the testimony of 30-year-old Mrs. Monika Besra is crucial, but a British newspaper today raised doubts about its authenticity.

The Observer, which claimed that even Mrs. Besra's identity had not been officially disclosed, pointed out that the ``excessive secrecy deployed by Mother Teresa's order, and her successor Sister Nirmala, in Mrs. Besra's case'' raised questions about the veracity of her claim. ``All the nuns involved in her treatment have refused to discuss publicly what happened...When The Observer turned up outside the Missionaries of Charity home for the destitute in the town of Raiganj yesterday close to where Mrs. Besra was treated, the nuns refused to emerge,'' the paper said quoting Raiganj's Bishop Alphonsus D'Souza that they were under strict orders not to talk about the ``miracle''.

The official account of Mrs. Besra's claim is that in May 1998 she was diagnosed with a large tumour in her abdomen and for two months she was in acute pain, unable even to stand straight. One day, she ``hobbled'' into the destitute home run by Mother Teresa's order in Raiganj.

In a statement to church investigators who are collecting evidence in support of Mother Teresa's claim to sainthood, she is reported to have said that first the sisters gave her medicine but when it did not work, they decided on invoking the Mother's blessings.

On the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's death - September 5, 1998 - two nuns tied a silver medallion round Mrs. Besra's stomach. It was the same medallion which had been placed on Mother Teresa's body. Mrs. Besra fell into deep sleep and when she woke up there was no sign of the tumour. ``My stomach became smaller and smaller... In three days it was completely all right. I am sure that Mother Teresa made me all right,'' she is reported to have claimed.

According to The Sunday Times it is one of the ``most powerful alleged miracles supporting her (Mother Teresa's) cause.'' But The Observer claimed there were ``inconsistencies'' in Mrs. Besra's account. ``Mrs. Besra, who is about 30, claims she was being given medicine only for pain relief, but the sisters confirm she was also treated for TB.

Before the `miracle', Mrs. Besra was taken to no fewer than five doctors - an extraordinary number for a poor resident of a Missionaries of Charity home'', the newspaper said in a report from its correspondent in Raiganj, Mr. Luke Harding who also pointed out that Mrs. Besra's statement had ``clearly been drafted by another hand'' as she was illiterate and could barely speak Bengali.

According to him, nuns wanted her sister to formally inform the Mother's House in Calcutta of the ``miracle'' but she refused, ``so the nuns reluctantly put pen to paper themselves''.

He also quotes a doctor as expressing doubt. But the archbishop of Calcutta, Henry D'Souza, has said that ``renowned physicians have certified that the disappearance of the tumour was nothing short of a miracle''.

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Section  : International
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