‘Mother Teresa was more than a religious figure’

The United States post office is releasing a commemorative stamp in the honour of Mother Teresa. The stamp will be released on her 100th birth anniversary this year in August.

The United States postal service has come under fire for this plan of honouring an individual whose principal achievements are associated with religious persuasion.

People who are against the release of this commemorative stamp in the US claim that Mother Teresa is principally known as a religious figure and can’t be separated from organised religion. 
The United States of America has a large Roman Catholic population, some countries in the continent have close to 92% Roman Catholics.

The USA has 76% Christians, out of which 25 % are Roman Catholics. We are witnessing protests against stamps of Mother Teresa, who was more of a humanitarian activist.

While around 1.58% Roman Catholics live in India, Mother Teresa is among the few personalities to appear on an Indian postal stamp when alive. The stamp was issued in 1980 and carries a portrait of Mother Teresa along with the facsimile of the reverse of the Nobel Peace Prize medallion.

The second Indian stamp on the saint was published in 1997 when she died. The face of Mother Teresa appeared on an India Postcard on occasion of Women’s Day in 2007.

There wasn’t any protest on the launch of these stamps in India. This shows the true secular nature of our country.
— Pascal R. Lopes