Mother Teresa
By Lisa Correnti
Yesterday the UN established the first “International Day of Charity” named for Mother Teresa and the extraordinary life she lived dedicated to works of kindness and charity. The day commemorates the anniversary of her death and encourages people to extend the same acts of kindness to others around the world.
From UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s address on the first International Day of Charity:
“Charity plays an important role in upholding the values and advancing the work of the United Nations. Donations of time or money; volunteer engagement in one’s own community or on the other side of the world; acts of caring and kindness with no thought of recompense; these and other expressions of global solidarity help us in our shared quest to live together in harmony and build a peaceful future for all.
“I welcome this first observance of the International Day of Charity…which coincides with the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, whose life and good works for some of the human family’s poorest and most vulnerable members inspired emulation across the world.”
Ban’s calls for a peaceful and harmonious world conveniently ignore the violent nature of abortion and the social ills that come from it. Respect for the dignity of all human life must be at the core of UN efforts to end violent and discriminatory practices around the globe. Mother Teresa recognized this when she said the greatest destroyer of peace was abortion, because if we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another.
Editor’s note. This appeared at www.turtlebayandbeyond.org/2013/turtle-bay-un/un-honors-mother-teresa-establishes-international-day-of-charity-but-silent-on-abortion/