Denver Newsroom, 08 January, 2022 / 4:00 pm (ACI Africa).
The Missionaries of Charity have been cleared to receive and use foreign funding in India, after the religious order founded by Mother Teresa was unexpectedly ruled ineligible to receive donations from abroad late last year.
Vatican News reported on Saturday that the Indian government on Jan. 7 restored the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) license for the religious order, allowing the group to once again receive and utilize foreign funds.
India’s Ministry of Home Affairs had, on Christmas Day, ruled the Missionaries ineligible for foreign donations, without giving a full explanation of the reason.
Sunita Kumar, a spokeswoman for the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, told the New York Times Dec. 28 she was confident the problem could be resolved. She indicated that funding for the missionaries’ work would not be affected immediately due to local support.
Days later, however, the Missionaries began to ration their distribution of food and other items to the poor, leading to consternation and worry on the part of people in poverty being helped by the Missionaries.