This article details the controversy raging among historians, admirers, devotees and critics of one of the most polarizing and perplexing public figures of modern times, a woman named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, known to the world as Mother Teresa.

To some, she is a saint. To others, she was a fraud. These two opposing views of this world-famous Catholic nun are vying to decide her place in history. The controversy is exacerbated by her recent beatification by Pope John Paul II and her candidacy for sainthood, and by several excoriating exposés of her life's work. The war of views raises important questions about religion, faith, and morality; the practices of the Roman Catholic Church; the difference between truth and myth; the responsibilities of public and private charities and the people who fund them; society's attitude towards the sick, the poor, and the dying; and the difficulty of establishing an accurate historical record without bias.

Many historical figures have been surrounded by controversy, and it is quite common to find both good and bad in these people. But how do you solve a problem like Teresa? Can one be both a saint and a fraud? It is the seemingly incompatible nature of these two views which makes establishing Teresa's rightful place in history particularly onerous.

Table of contents
1 The Favorable View
2 The Unfavorable View
3 The Issues

The Favorable View

The Unfavorable View

The Issues