Indian government orders inspection of all child care homes operated by Missionaries of Charity

As reported by Catholic News Service, July 19, 2018 (first link inserted by blogger, second link in original):

BHOPAL, India – A federal ministry in India has ordered inspections of all child care homes run by the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa, after a lay employee reportedly confessed to selling babies for adoption, reported ucanews.com.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development said in a statement July 16 that its move followed the recent case of alleged illegal adoptions carried out by Nirmal Hriday (Tender Hearts) home for unmarried mothers run by Missionaries of Charity in Ranchi, in Jharkhand state.

Minister Maneka Gandhi asked all states to get homes run by the congregation inspected immediately, ucanews.com reported.

Sister Concelia Balsa and social worker Anima Indwar were arrested July 4 after a childless couple complained to the state's Child Welfare Committee that Indwar took money to provide a baby but failed to keep the promise. They were accused of having already sold three babies from the home.

Indwar reportedly confessed to police that she took money for the baby. Sister Prema said the Missionaries of Charity were not involved.

"We are fully cooperating with the investigations and are open to any free, fair and just inquiry," Sister Mary Prema Pierick, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, said in a July 17 statement.

She said Indwar, who had worked at the home for six years, enjoyed the trust of Sister Concelia, who oversaw the unmarried mothers section.

The nuns, when busy with other work, allowed Indwar to escort unwed mothers to take their babies to the Child Welfare Committee's office. The nuns had no facility to verify if a baby had been surrendered because "as a matter of practice" the government office would not acknowledge taking custody of a baby from an unwed mother, Sister Prema said.

Media reports said Indwar, the baby's mother and a guard at the home jointly took money to sell the baby in question.

"We have full faith in the courts of law and the investigating authorities and are confident that justice shall prevail," said Sister Prema's statement.

Father Peter Minj, a lawyer who is helping Missionaries of Charity, said the federal move to inspect all the congregation's homes was the "latest in a series of probes we are facing."

D.K. Pandey, Jharkhand state police chief, wrote to the federal home secretary July 11 urging him to freeze the congregation's bank account to facilitate an investigation into whether there were violations of regulations covering acceptance of foreign funding.

Church leaders say the government headed by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party is using the case to tarnish the image of Missionaries of Charity and the entire Christian community.

"Many myths are being spread, information distorted and false news being diffused, and baseless innuendos being thrown about regarding the Mother Teresa sisters," Sister Prema said.

The congregation that Mother Teresa founded in 1950 has 244 homes in India.

The congregation "vows to continue its wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor" even in the "middle of the unprecedented and unfounded criticism that it faces today," Sister Prema said in her statement.

There are accusations that the investigations may be politically and/or religiously motivated; as reported by Giorgio Bernardelli in La Stampa, July 16, 2018 (link in original):

MILAN--An ugly local affair, which in Hindu nationalistic India risks turning into a general accusation against the nuns of Mother Teresa. For about ten days the Missionaries of Charity have been in the eye of the storm for a judicial affair that in Ranchi saw one of them end up behind bars, together with a lay collaborator, accused of trafficking in illegal adoptions.

The events are said to have taken place in a house for single mothers that the nuns run in the capital of the State of Jharkhand, one of the 243 structures serving the poorest and the poor that the white-and-blue-sari sisters keep open every day throughout India. The judicial authorities have collected a complaint from an Indian couple who allegedly paid 120 thousand rupees (about 1500 euros) for having in adoption one of the single mothers’ children. According to the investigations, this was not an isolated incident in that structure. It should also be added that since 2015 the Missionaries of Charity - as a general policy - had stopped giving children for adoption in India because they do not accept of the New Delhi government’s guidelines that make it possible also for singles and couples of the same sex.

On July 5, when news broke over the center of Ranchi and Sister Concilia, the mother house of the Missionaries of Charity, immediately released a very clear statement: “We are absolutely shocked by what has happened in one of our homes - the Superior Sister Mary Prema wrote - It should never have happened: it goes against our moral convictions. We are carefully looking into this matter. We will take all the necessary precautions to ensure that such an incident never happens again”.

In the meantime, however, the Missionaries of Charity also have to deal with a series of actions implemented by the local government of Jharkhand which - from the specific case - seem to want to broaden the accusations to the work of the entire religious family founded by Mother Teresa. The Chief of Police has in fact asked the Central Government of New Delhi to freeze all the bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity, in order to check the existence of violations in foreign financing. All this while the old theses of the English journalist Christopher Hitchens, who accused Mother Teresa of exploiting poverty in India, are back in vogue in Indian public opinion. While the RSS - the movement of Hindu nationalists, very close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi - has been asked to withdraw the Bharat Ratna, the most prestigious Indian honor from the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. It was awarded in 1980.

The auxiliary bishop of Ranchi, Telesphore Bilung, pointed his finger at the local government, which, under the guidance of Hindu nationalists, last year also introduced the controversial anti-conversion laws in Jharkhand. “We have news of searches in different districts of the state - told the agency UcaNews - They are trying to prove that Christians are linked to illegal activities. Even the spokesperson of the Missionaries of Charity, Sunita Kumar, speaks of an attempt to “threaten and stifle financially” the religious order founded by Mother Teresa, “whose work in India since 1950 is before everyone’s eyes”.

The approaching general elections in India in May 2019 are also playing a part in this story: the Hindu nationalists of the BJP, which governs with Modi, have been repeatedly accused in recent years of building their consensus through acts of hostility against minorities, which are becoming increasingly serious. And in this context, it is significant that Mamata Banerjee, governor of West Bengal, the State of Calcutta, has taken sides in defense of the Missionaries of Charity in these days: “Malicious attempts to malign their name. The sisters are being targeted. BJP want to spare no one. Highly condemnable. Let MOC continue to do their work for the poorest and the poor”.

Mother Teresa herself set up Missionaries of Charity. And now they are also not being spared. Malicious attempts to malign their name. The Sisters are being targeted. #BJP want to spare no one. Highly condemnable. Let MOC continue to do their work for the poorest of the poor

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 12, 2018