In life, Mother Teresa was an icon — for
believers — of God's work on Earth. Her
ministry to the poor of Calcutta was a world-
renowned symbol of religious compassion.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
In a rare interview in 1986, Mother Teresa
told CBS News she had a calling, based on
unquestioned faith.
"They are all children of God, loved and
created by the same heart of God," she said.
But now, it has emerged that Mother Teresa
was so doubtful of her own faith that she
feared being a hypocrite, reports CBS News
correspondent Mark Phillips .
In a new book that compiles letters she
wrote to friends, superiors and confessors,
her doubts are obvious.
Shortly after beginning work in Calcutta's
slums, the spirit left Mother Teresa.
"Where is my faith?" she wrote. "Even deep
down… there is nothing but emptiness and
darkness... If there be God — please forgive
me."
Eight years later, she was still looking to
reclaim her lost faith.
"Such deep longing for God… Repulsed,
empty, no faith, no love, no zeal," she said.
As her fame increased, her faith refused to
return. Her smile, she said, was a mask.
"What do I labor for?" she asked in one
letter. "If there be no God, there can be no
soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You
also are not true."
"These are letters that were kept in the
archbishop's house," the Rev. Brian
Kolodiejchuk told Phillips .
The letters were gathered by Rev.
Kolodiejchuk, the priest who's making the
case to the Vatican for Mother Teresa's
proposed sainthood. He said her obvious
spiritual torment actually helps her case.
"Now we have this new understanding, this
new window into her interior life, and for
me this seems to be the most heroic," said
Rev. Kolodiejchuk.
According to her letters, Mother Teresa died
with her doubts. She had even stopped
praying, she once said.
The church decided to keep her letters,
even though one of her dying wishes was
that they be destroyed. Perhaps now we
know why.