KOLKATA, India — The unprecedented visit of Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, to the mother house of the Missionaries of Charity (MC), commencing his May 23–26 trip to India, has brought joy to the congregation founded by Mother Teresa, canonized as St. Teresa of Kolkata in 2016.
After landing at Kolkata airport in the early hours of May 23, Rubio headed straight to the mother house. Accompanied by his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes, he attended a special Mass at the tomb of the nun, known as the "saint of the gutters," on the ground floor of the mother house and placed a wreath of flowers on it.
"With Respect and Tribute from the People of The United States of America" read the card pinned to the wreath Rubio placed on the tomb of Mother Teresa, which is thronged by hundreds of pilgrims daily.
After the nearly hourlong Mass, Rubio spent another half hour with the Missionaries of Charity sisters at the mother house as dozens of excited novices looked on from the upper verandah.
"It was beautiful. His respect for the mother is amazing. We thank God for this visit," Sister Concettina, the congregation's secretary-general, told EWTN News after Rubio left, briefing the media, who had waited patiently outside for a couple of hours.
From the mother house, Rubio and his entourage moved to Shishu Bhavan (a children's home), 650 feet away on the same A.J.C. Bose Road, where Rubio handed out teddy bears to destitute children with disabilities.
"Mother Teresa left a tremendous legacy of compassion and service. I was honored to visit the Missionaries of Charity today to pay homage to her legacy," Rubio said on X before flying from Kolkata to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Telegraph, an English-language daily based in Kolkata, also hinted at the significance of Rubio's mother house visit, titling its report "U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits mother house in Kolkata on first leg of India trip."
A long-scheduled day of double joy
Later that afternoon, it proved a long-scheduled day of double joy for the Missionaries of Charity, with 25 novices of different nationalities taking their final professions at Auxilium Parish Church in a solemn service led by Archbishop Elias Frank of Kolkata in the presence of hundreds of sisters.
"It is a day of double joy for us," Sister Marie Juan, one of the senior Missionaries of Charity councilors who formally "accepted" the vows during the two-hour service — with Superior General Sister Mary Joseph away in Australia — told EWTN News while coming out of the church.
The senior Missionary of Charity official was responding to an EWTN News question on how she felt about the U.S. secretary of state visiting the Mother House at the start of his four-day visit to India.
An act of solidarity amid recent strains
The congregation had previously undergone a stressful period when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Modi canceled its FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) license to receive foreign donations on Christmas Day 2021 — alongside thousands of Indian church and secular advocacy and charity groups, including Bread for the World and Compassion International.
Following widespread Indian and international outcry, the Modi government restored the Missionaries of Charity's FCRA license within a fortnight, after peers in the U.K. House of Lords slammed the decision in a Jan. 6, 2022, debate.
"This unique visit is reassuring for us," Alexander Anthony, secretary-general of the All India Catholic Union — the official national lay network for Catholics in India — told EWTN News on May 26.
The Rubio visit, said Kolkata-based Anthony, "is an act of solidarity with the MCs and Christian community in India. It gives out a clear message to the rulers as the community is distressed."
India has reported steadily increasing incidents of anti-Christian violence, rising from 127 in 2014, when Modi assumed power, to 834 by 2024.
The Christian community has been on edge recently after the BJP, for the first time, took power in West Bengal state — of which Kolkata is the capital — in the April elections, amid widespread criticism of the deletion of more than 9 million voters from the rolls, equivalent to 12% of the voter list.
Even the Missionaries of Charity sisters in Kolkata had to appeal to get their voting rights restored, The Times of India reported.
