Mother Teresa and the Empire State Building

This past week I received a series of messages from the Catholic League about an interesting story that is developing concerning the Empire State Building and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

As you may know, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mother Teresa. She was one of the greatest saints the Catholic Church has ever seen and one of the greatest humanitarian figures the world has ever seen, with a long list of accomplishments. During fifty years of her lifetime in Calcutta, one of the poorest cities in India and in the world at the time, she picked up more than 60,000 homeless orphans, sick people, destitute people, dying people and lepers from the streets in the vast slum district. She established hundreds of hospitals, clinics, shelters, orphanages, soup kitchens, and homes for the destitute-dying in Calcutta alone. She founded a new religious order called the Missionaries of Charity to care for the poorest of the poor, which has now spread to more than 120 countries on five continents. She brought help to the needy, new hope to the abandoned and love to those who were unloved. She became the voice of the most defenseless and forgotten human beings on the planet, especially unborn children in their mother's wombs. Her utterly selfless dedication to serving the least of Christ's brethren drew the admiration of the world, resulting in some 124 awards including the renowned Nobel Peace Prize. Like her famous contemporary Pope John Paul II, she was a very special person not just to Catholics but to everyone because she lived the Gospel message, which is to see Christ in everyone and practice the works of mercy. "I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me" (St. Matthew 25:36)

Given all this, it is fitting that in the year marking the 100th anniversary of her birth, Mother Teresa should receive special public honors in countries all over the world, and particularly in countries that cherish the values of human life and dignity which she unstintingly upheld. Now here is how the story begins from Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, May 12, 2010:

On August 26, the U.S. Postal Service is honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mother Teresa. On February 2, I submitted an application to the Empire State Building Lighting Partners requesting that the tower lights feature blue and white, the colors of Mother Teresa's congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, on August 26. On May 5, the request was denied without explanation.

Mother Teresa received 124 awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Freedom. She built hundreds of orphanages, hospitals, hospices, health clinics, homeless shelters, youth shelters and soup kitchens all over the world, and is revered in India for her work. She created the first hospice in Greenwich Village for AIDS patients. Not surprisingly, she was voted the most admired woman in the world three years in a row in the mid-1990s. But she is not good enough to be honored by the Empire State Building.

Last year the Empire State Building shone in red and yellow lights to honor the 60th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Revolution. Yet under its founder, Mao Zedong, the Communists killed 77 million people. In other words, the greatest mass murderer in history merited the same tribute being denied to Mother Teresa.

We are launching a nationwide petition drive protesting this indefensible decision (TO SIGN THE PETITION, Click here). We are petitioning Anthony Malkin, the owner of the Empire State Building, to reverse this decision.

To protest this decision, contact: lightingpartner@esbnyc.com

On May 13, Donohue reported the following:

Daniel Hernandez, a PR specialist hired by the Empire State Building, has a nice job: he was hired to say he doesn't know anything. When asked by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, an investigative journalist reporting for Fox News, about the decision to stiff Mother Teresa, he repeatedly said "there is no issue here." Oblivious to the obvious—why would a reporter call about a non-issue—he continued by saying he has been directed not to comment. The reporter then noted, as we did earlier, that it is ironic that the Empire State Building paid tribute to the 60th anniversary of the genocidal Chinese Communist regime last fall, but won't honor the saintly nun. Hernandez parroted, "I'm only telling you what I've been directed to say."

Imagine a spokesman for the Vatican responding to a reporter about an indefensible decision made by a cardinal, and all he offers is, "there is no issue here." Better yet, imagine him saying, "I'm only telling you what I've been directed to say," and expecting the reporters to simply walk away disappointed.

One wonders what world the elites who run the Empire State Building live in. Besides siding with the Communists and dissing Catholics, they are just plain stupid. If they think they can ride this out, they have no idea what they are dealing with.

To sign our petition, click here

Also, contact Melanie Maasch, the PR rep at the Empire State Building who hired Hernandez to say nothing: mmaasch@esbnyc.com

Finally, as stated in a press release on May 14, the Catholic League announced "the start of a worldwide campaign protesting the decision by officials from the Empire State Building to deny Mother Teresa the honor of having her blue and white colors shine from the tower on August 26, the 100th anniversary of her birth." According to the press release, Bill Donohue has written letters to the Missionaries of Charity all over the world asking them to join in a protest-letter drive, "the first of many such campaigns that will run through the summer, if necessary." To sign the petition, click here. To register a protest, e-mail Melanie Maasch at the Empire State Building, mmaasch@esbnyc.com. To contact Anthony Malkin, write to him at Malkin Properties, One Grand Central Place 60, E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10165

It's hard to argue why Mother Teresa shouldn't receive this honor, which is why the lighting staff of the Empire State Building is not even attempting to defend their position. They have no good reason for refusing to do this, which is why God's Irish bulldog is going after them. Believe me, you don't want to mix it up with Bill Donohue!