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CNN Live At Daybreak

Mother Teresa on the Road to Sainthood

Aired August 15, 2001 - 07:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, today in India, Mother Teresa moves a step closer to becoming Saint Teresa. A commission has finished a look into the life virtues and reputation of sanctity, as they put it, of the nun who died in 1997. A report then will be sent to the Vatican, dealt with probably sometime next week. To her supporters there may be no doubt that Mother Teresa is a saint, but what is unprecedented here is the speed. The Vatican has waived the five-year waiting period for sainthood.

Scott Simon lived in Calcutta with Mother Teresa for several months in 1983. You may already be familiar with Scott's work as the host of National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition." Scott Simon joins us from our Washington bureau.

Scott, thanks so much for being here.

SCOTT SIMON, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: A pleasure.

MCEDWARDS: You say that she, under no circumstances, wanted to be considered for sainthood.

SIMON: Yes, and you know this was not something that she whispered to me in a confidential moment, of which we had very few to be sure, but this was something she said loudly and clearly over the years. I think it was important for her that people not take the lesson from her life that you needed to be a saint to offer the kind of extraordinary dedication that she did to the world.

I mean I've got to tell you I have ambivalent thoughts as I hear you read the introduction because I certainly count myself as a supporter of Mother Teresa, but I really am uncomfortable about the movement to beatify her. I don't say that as a Catholic. I don't even say that as an Indian, but I do say that as someone who holds a tremendous belief for her and her work and I think the message of her work.

MCEDWARDS: Well, and why are you uncomfortable, because it's against her wishes or because you think there's something else politically at work here with the Vatican?

SIMON: You know I -- look, I can't pretend to -- I'm even less an expert, obviously, on Vatican politics. And I will assume that at the root of it is a genuine desire to pay abeyance to, as far as I'm concerned, one of the great souls of the 20th century and probably of all human history. But at the same time, I think we can't ignore the fact that Mother Teresa's image has been, I'll put it in the most crass term as possible, a valuable fund raising tool for the church over much of the last two or three generations. And I also think at the -- at the same time, it's a way of keeping her image alive in the church at a time when I think, you know, we could all probably use a few more useful symbols in our life.

And at -- look, I don't say this to, in any way, diminish my feeling for Mother Teresa or for that matter her sanctity. I think that remains impeccable. But you know, she was not a modest woman. She had a very shrewd analysis of what she represented in this world and how she could affect people.

I mean I remember being there of a day there were a group of pilgrims from Austria who came in and they said, oh, oh Mother, there is so much sadness here, how will you ever provide? What can you do? And she said, oh, do not worry about us. We will provide. God will provide for us the way he does the bees and the birds and the trees and the flowers. And of course when she finished that little speech, people were taking off their rings and their gold Rolexes and their bracelets and they're throwing them into a basket what amounted to a collection plate. She understood what her image was and she was fully capable of using it.

And you know...

MCEDWARDS: And not -- and not above liking a nice restaurant and the occasional movie star, you say, too.

SIMON: Well, you know it was -- when she traveled the world, look, she was utterly sincere. She lived modestly, certainly in the ultimate way and every day of her life. I mean a bucket of cold water. She died leaving behind just, as I recall, it was her -- it was her wooden slippers, a couple of pairs of reading glasses, some holy scripture and a couple of worn sweaters and her sorry habits. But of course when she visited houses in Paris, her mission houses in Paris we're talking about, she would stay in the mission houses but people wanted to take her out to a nice meal. She didn't think that violated her safety or, forgive me, her sanctity.

MCEDWARDS: Sanctity.

SIMON: It certainly didn't violate her safety, although at some restaurants I guess we've been to that could be the case.

MCEDWARDS: You might make that argument.

(CROSSTALK)

MCEDWARDS: Would -- Scott, would she appreciate...

SIMON: Yes.

MCEDWARDS: ... the irony of this? I mean someone who didn't really want this but here she is on a fast track now for sainthood. SIMON: Yes, you know I guess I have to be careful about saying it, but I think I would. I mean I remember I happen to be there of a day that she came back, this was years ago, it might have been the first day she had an indication of her health problem, she came back from a specialist in Calcutta. Young nuns gathered around her and they said, oh Mother, oh Mother, what did the doctor say? And she said, oh, you know, I have a bad heart but nobody wants to tell Mother Teresa that she has a bad heart. And I think she appreciated the irony of that that a heart specialist in Calcutta could not just look at her and say, Mother Teresa, your heart is failing...

MCEDWARDS: You're ill, right.

SIMON: ... because, my gosh, that sounds like the ultimate irreverent observation, and I think she'd appreciate it.

But look, she was not modest and I think she was very specific about saying this. For the past 30 years wherever she went in the world people would say, oh Mother, you're a saint. And she would say, no, I'm not a saint, I am God's servant. And I think if we take her life and her message seriously and believe what she said to us we have to believe that too...

MCEDWARDS: OK.

SIMON: ... because I believe she was a figure of such integrity she would be fully capable of saying, you know, I have some extra special powers that are bestowed only on saints and she never said that.

MCEDWARDS: Scott Simon, appreciate your thoughts this morning. It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

SIMON: Thanks very much.

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