In reversal, Missionaries of Charity in India again permitted to receive foreign donations

The Indian government's reversal comes as a relief.

“We never expected that our registration could be cancelled but it happened,” Kumar told UCA News following the announcement Jan. 7. 

“We are happy that the restoration of our license happened without much delay.”

Licenses for NGOs under India’s 1976 Foreign Contribution Regulation Act are subject to a 5-year validity period. The Indian government has in recent times increased its scrutiny of foreign funding for other non-profit organizations, such as Amnesty International. 

These legal problems in India come amid political, social and religious tensions, as well as problems with anti-Christian religious extremism in many areas.

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Foreign donations to the Missionaries of Charity made up more than $13 million for the financial year ending in March 2021, its filings said. The organization does not publicly report its total income, according to the New York Times.

Father Dominic Gomes, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, had called the initial announcement “a cruel Christmas gift to the poorest of the poor.”

He said there are 22,000 direct dependents and beneficiaries at Missionaries of Charity centers across India, UCA News reports. Missionaries of Charity sisters and brothers “reach out to uplift thousands and are often the only friends of the lepers and social outcasts no one will even venture near.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, under the Archdiocese of Calcutta. The government granted the missionaries a house to serve Calcutta’s poor in 1952. The organization now has hundreds of houses worldwide and its membership includes religious sisters and brothers and priests, plus a lay organization.

Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and assistant podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and in the past has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer.