Mother Teresa: "Angel of Mercy"

Sisters of hope
Mother Teresa and sisters from the Missionaries of Charity at the start of a service at the Saint Anthony of Padua Church in the Bronx section of New York on June 11, 2002.

What began as an order with 12 members has grown to more than 4,000 nuns running orphanages, AIDS hospices and other charity centres worldwide. Today the Missionaries of Charity comprises some 1,000 sisters and brothers in India, of whom a small number are non-Indian. Many have been trained as doctors, nurses and social workers, and are in a position to provide effective help for the slum population as well as undertaking relief work in connection with such natural catastrophes as floods, epidemics, famine and swarms of refugees.