Verghese V Joseph –
Kolkata, September 5, 2026 — On the liturgical feast day of St Teresa of Calcutta, the Archdiocese of Calcutta hosted the world premiere of Mother Teresa – Prophet of Compassion, a 66-minute international documentary produced by senior journalist Anto Akkara.
Held at the auditorium of St Xavier’s College on Park Street, the event drew more than 200 attendees, including dozens of Missionaries of Charity (MC) nuns and novices, with Archbishop Elias Frank of Calcutta presiding.
A journalistic tribute to compassion’s prophetic path
In his introductory address, Archbishop Frank praised Akkara’s “passion” to make Mother Teresa’s story known globally, saying the gathering was “not just to see what he has done but to be inspired by the mother’s work.” He highlighted the film’s journalistic lens, noting that it surfaces “certain pieces” and events that even longtime devotees may not know, while commending Akkara’s tenacity after a hard-disk crash wiped out vital footage at a critical stage.
Akkara, who first secured a comprehensive interview with Mother Teresa in 1995 at age 33, has since followed the MC congregation through landmark moments—from her 1997 funeral to her 2016 canonization—visiting Kolkata more than two dozen times for international reporting. He conceived the documentary as the congregation approached its 75th anniversary, receiving approval for a personal initiative and full production support from Atmadarshan TV, Indore.
Overhauled international cut with new testimonies and global episodes
The Kolkata screening unveiled an overhauled international version, reworked from an earlier Indian cut rushed for the MC Foundation Day on October 7, 2025. Akkara has woven in more than a dozen fresh incidents, tracing Mother Teresa’s footprints in Patna (1948), Jharkhand (1959) and New Delhi (1961), alongside gripping international episodes: the killings of MC nuns in Yemen in 1998 and 2016, the congregation’s expulsion from Nicaragua, and MC sisters remaining in Gaza and Ukraine amid bombardment.
The film also features moving testimony from legendary photographer Raghu Rai and revisits Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s appreciative remarks while inaugurating the new Sishu Bhavan building in New Delhi—moments that underscore state recognition of her humanitarian work.
Countering canards with documented service
Akkara uses the documentary to confront persistent “canards of conversion” aimed at tarnishing Mother Teresa’s image, juxtaposing them with her record of dedicated service to the destitute, the handicapped and mentally challenged, leprosy-affected people, and orphans. The narrative anchors her legacy in measurable scale: from her birth as Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu in present-day North Macedonia in 1910, her arrival in India as a Loreto sister in 1929, and the founding of the MC congregation in 1950, the order has expanded to 138 countries with 5,076 nuns operating 754 homes in 75 years—“globalizing compassion and care” faster than many multinationals.
Little-known chapters that define a life
The documentary surfaces emblematic episodes that reveal Mother Teresa’s pragmatism and moral clarity:
- The MC nuns’ blue-striped white cotton sarees are woven by leprosy victims at the Titagarh centre dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi.
- She persuaded the Indian Air Force to plant trees at the MC leprosy home in Delhi.
- In 1993, she declined a papal invitation to World Youth Day in Denver to travel to Borduria in Arunachal Pradesh to oppose the instant killing of infants born with deformities.
- After the 1964 World Eucharistic Congress in Mumbai, she organized a raffle to sell the Pope’s donated mobile to raise funds for a leprosy hospital in Shanti Nagar.
- She requested the Nobel Committee to cancel the customary Nobel laureate banquet so the funds could support orphans in Kolkata.
These accounts are framed alongside endorsements from former President A P J Abdul Kalam and former Prime Ministers I K Gujral and Atal Bihari Vajpayee—voices that contradict conversion narratives with testimonials to her humanitarian impact.
Interfaith resonance and political admiration
The film also highlights interfaith gestures, such as Mother Teresa naming her MC centre in a Ranchi suburb “Radharani Convent” to honour a Hindu woman who donated a large plot for a leprosy home in 1973. It recalls West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu’s admission that “this lady makes me a bad Marxist, making me believe in Godliness,” capturing her cross-ideological influence.
Feast-day premiere as a call to action
By choosing September 5 for the premiere, the Archdiocese aligned the launch with the saint’s feast day, turning a cinematic debut into a liturgical and civic moment. As Archbishop Frank put it, the aim was inspiration: to move audiences from admiration to action in the spirit of the “prophetic path of compassion” that Mother Teresa laid out through the Missionaries of Charity.
Contact: Anto Akkara | [email protected] | +91 9448383350 (WhatsApp) | www.antoakkara.com | Facebook: antoakkara | Twitter/X: @AntoAkkara | YouTube: Anto Akkara