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Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was a Roman Catholic nun who devoted her life to serving the poor and destitute around the world. She spent many years in Calcutta, India where she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation devoted to helping those in great need. In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and became a symbol of charitable, selfless work. In 2016, Mother Teresa was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Teresa.

"It is not how much we do,
but how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give,
but how much love we put in the giving."

- Mother Teresa. From: No Greater Love

Short Biography of Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Little is known about her early life, but at a young age, she felt a calling to be a nun and serve through helping the poor. At the age of 18, she was given permission to join a group of nuns in Ireland. After a few months of training, with the Sisters of Loreto, she was then given permission to travel to India. She took her formal religious vows in 1931 and chose to be named afterSt Therese of Lisieux - the patron saint of missionaries.
On her arrival in India, she began by working as a teacher; however, the widespread poverty of Calcutta made a deep impression on her, and this led to her starting a new order called "The Missionaries of Charity". The primary objective of this mission was to look after people, who nobody else was prepared to look after. Mother Teresa felt that serving others was a fundamental principle of the teachings of Jesus Christ. She often mentioned the saying of Jesus,

"Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me."

As Mother Teresa said herself:

"Love cannot remain by itself - it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service ." - Mother Teresa

She experienced two particularly traumatic periods in Calcutta. The first was the Bengal famine of 1943 and the second was the Hindu/Muslim violence in 1946, before the partition of India. In 1948, she left the convent to live full-time among the poorest of Calcutta. She chose to wear a white Indian sari, with a blue border, out of respect for the traditional Indian dress. For many years, Mother Teresa and a small band of fellow nuns survived on minimal income and food, often having to beg for funds. But, slowly her efforts with the poorest were noted and appreciated by the local community and Indian politicians.
In 1952, she opened her first home for the dying, which allowed people to die with dignity. Mother Teresa often spent time with those who were dying. Some have criticised the lack of proper medical attention, and their refusal to give painkillers. Others say that it afforded many neglected people the opportunity to die knowing that someone cared.

Her work spread around the world. By 2013, there were 700 missions operating in over 130 countries. The scope of their work also expanded to include orphanages and hospices for those with terminal illnesses.

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."

—- Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa never sought to convert those of another faith. Those in her hospices were given the religious rites appropriate to their faith. However, she had a very firm Catholic faith and took a strict line on abortion, the death penalty and divorce - even if her position was unpopular. Her whole life was influenced by her faith and religion, even though at times she confessed she didn't feel the presence of God.

The Missionaries of Charity now has branches throughout the world including branches in the developed world where they work with the homeless and people affected by AIDS. In 1965, the organisation became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.

In the 1960s, the life of Mother Teresa was brought to a wider public attention by Malcolm Muggeridge who wrote a book and produced a documentary called " Something Beautiful for God ".
In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace." She didn't attend the ceremonial banquet but asked that the $192,000 fund be given to the poor.
In later years, she was more active in western developed countries. She commented that though the West was materially prosperous, there was often a spiritual poverty.

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."

-— Mother Teresa

When she was asked how to promote world peace, she replied,"Go home and love your family".

Over the last two decades of her life, Mother Teresa suffered various health problems, but nothing could dissuade her from fulfilling her mission of serving the poor and needy. Until her very last illness she was active in travelling around the world to the different branches of The Missionaries of Charity. During her last few years, she met Princess Diana in the Bronx, New York. The two died within a week of each other.

Following Mother Teresa's death, the Vatican began the process of beatification, which is the second step on the way to canonization and sainthood. Mother Teresa was formally beatified in October 2003 by Pope John Paul II. In September 2015, Pope Francis declared:

"Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded,"

"She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity. She made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime of poverty they created."

Mother Teresa was a living saint who offered a great example and inspiration to the world.

Awards given to Mother Teresa

The first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. (1971)

Kennedy Prize (1971)

The Nehru Prize -"for the promotion of international peace and understanding"(1972)

Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975),

The Nobel Peace Prize (1979)

States Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985)

Congressional Gold Medal (1994)

U Thant Peace Award 1994

Honorary citizenship of the United States (November 16, 1996),

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. " Biography of Mother Teresa", Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net , 18th May 2006. (Updated September 2016)

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Facts about Mother Teresa - Facts from her childhood, early training and later missionary work.

Women who changed the world - Famous women who changed the world. Features female Prime Ministers, scientists, cultural figures, authors and royalty. Includes Princess Diana, Marie Curie, Queen Victoria, and Catherine the Great.

Christians - Famous Christians from Jesus Christ and the early Apostles to Catholic Popes and saints. Includes St Francis of Assisi, St Catherine of Sienna and St Teresa.

Spiritual figures - Famous saints, mystics and religious figures. Including Jesus Christ, The Buddha, Lord Krishna.

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Mother Teresa (1910-1997) was a Roman Catholic nun who devoted her life to serving the poor and destitute around the world. She spent many years in Calcutta, India where she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation devoted to helping those in great need.

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Tim Costello speaks about his passion to serve those in need as he finishes as CEO of Worldvision

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Tim Costello speaks about his passion to serve those in need as he finishes as CEO of Worldvision

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Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) was a pioneering Quaker campaigner for better conditions in prisons during the Victorian Period. Biography, Quotes and perspective on her life.

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Martin Luther - 95 Theses, Quotes & Reformation

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Martin Luther was a German monk who forever changed Christianity when he nailed his ’95 Theses’ to a church door in 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation.

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Questions and Answers on Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Uskup, Ottoman Empire (now Skopje, North Macedonia), on August 26, 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work.

On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.

Today the order comprises Active and Contemplative branches of Sisters and Brothers in many countries. In 1963 both the Contemplative branch of the Sisters and the Active branch of the Brothers was founded. In 1979 the Contemplative branch of the Brothers was added, and in 1984 the Priest branch was established.

The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers.

The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families.

Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished inNobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Mother Teresa died on 5 September 1997.

To cite this section
MLA style: Mother Teresa - Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Mon. 20 Nov 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1979/teresa/biographical/>

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The Nobel Peace Prize 1979 was awarded to Mother Teresa "for her work for bringing help to suffering humanity"

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Tim Costello talks about the work of World Vision

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Tim Costello talks candidly about World Vision – giving a “hand-up not a hand-out”

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Elizabeth Fry, née Gurney, (born May 21, 1780, Norwich, Norfolk, Eng.-died Oct. 12, 1845, Ramsgate, Kent), British Quaker philanthropist and one of the chief promoters of prison reform in Europe. She also helped to improve the British hospital system and the treatment of the insane.

The daughter of a wealthy Quaker banker and merchant, she married (1800) Joseph Fry, a London merchant, and combined her work with the care of a large family. Unwearyingly attending to the poor, she was acknowledged as a "minister" by the Society of Friends (1811) and later traveled in Scotland, northern England, Ireland, and much of Europe. There she inspected prisons and wrote reports. Her recommendations for Newgate Prison, for instance, included separation of the sexes, classification of criminals, female supervision for women, adequate provision for religious and secular instruction, and useful employment. Even in her lifetime her suggestions were increasingly acted upon throughout most of Europe.

Jeannette L. Nolen.

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Elizabeth Fry, née Gurney, (born May 21, 1780, Norwich, Norfolk, Eng.-died Oct. 12, 1845, Ramsgate, Kent), British Quaker philanthropist and one of the chief promoters of prison reform in Europe. She also helped to improve the British hospital system and the treatment of the insane.

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He was only five feet tall and rather homely, by most accounts, but William Wilberforce had a smooth and powerful way of speaking. It wasn't easy, but this Christian politician managed to talk the British Empire into...

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Luther was a German theologian whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben. His father was a copper miner. Luther studied at the University of Erfurt and in 1505 decided to join a monastic order, becoming an Augustinian friar. He was ordained in 1507, began teaching at the University of Wittenberg and in 1512 was made a doctor of Theology. In 1510 he visited Rome on behalf of a number of Augustinian monasteries, and was appalled by the corruption he found there.

Luther became increasingly angry about the clergy selling 'indulgences' - promised remission from punishments for sin, either for someone still living or for one who had died and was believed to be in purgatory. On 31 October 1517, he published his '95 Theses', attacking papal abuses and the sale of indulgences.

Luther had come to believe that Christians are saved through faith and not through their own efforts. This turned him against many of the major teachings of the Catholic Church. In 1519 -1520, he wrote a series of pamphlets developing his ideas - 'On Christian Liberty', 'On the Freedom of a Christian Man', 'To the Christian Nobility' and 'On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church'. Thanks to the printing press, Luther's '95 Theses' and his other writings spread quickly through Europe.

In January 1521, the Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther. He was then summoned to appear at the Diet of Worms, an assembly of the Holy Roman Empire. He refused to recant and Emperor Charles V declared him an outlaw and a heretic. Luther went into hiding at Wartburg Castle. In 1522, he returned to Wittenberg and in 1525 married Katharina von Bora, a former nun, with whom he had six children.

Luther then became involved in the controversy surrounding the Peasants War (1524 - 1526), the leaders of which had used Luther's arguments to justify their revolt. He rejected their demands and upheld the right of the authorities to suppress the revolt, which lost him many supporters.

In 1534, Luther published a complete translation of the bible into German, underlining his belief that people should be able to read it in their own language. The translation contributed significantly to the spread and development of the German language.

Luther's influence spread across northern and eastern Europe and his fame made Wittenberg an intellectual centre. In his final years he wrote polemics against the Jews, the papacy and the Anabaptists, a radical wing of the reforming movement.

Luther died on 18 February 1546 in Eisleben.

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Luther was a German theologian whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben. His father was a copper miner. Luther studied at the University of Erfurt and in 1505 decided to join a monastic order, becoming an Augustinian friar.

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Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, the future Mother Teresa, was born on 26 August 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian heritage. Her father, a well-respected local businessman, died when she was eight years old, leaving her mother, a devoutly religious woman, to open an embroidery and cloth business to support the family. After spending her adolescence deeply involved in parish activities, Agnes left home in September 1928, for the Loreto Convent in Rathfarnam (Dublin), Ireland, where she was admitted as a postulant on October 12 and received the name of Teresa, after her patroness, St. Therese of Lisieux.

Agnes was sent by the Loreto order to India and arrived in Calcutta on 6 January 1929. Upon her arrival, she joined the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling. She made her final profession as a Loreto nun on 24 May 1937, and hereafter was called Mother Teresa. While living in Calcutta during the 1930s and '40s, she taught in St. Mary's Bengali Medium School.

On 10 September 1946, on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received what she termed the "call within a call," which was to give rise to the Missionaries of Charity family of Sisters, Brothers, Fathers, and Co-Workers. The content of this inspiration is revealed in the aim and mission she would give to her new institute: "to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the cross for love and souls" by "labouring at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor." On October 7, 1950, the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially erected as a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

From the late 1960s until 1980, the Missionaries of Charity expanded both in their reach across the globe and in their number of members. Mother Teresa opened houses in Australia, the Middle East, and North America, and the first novitiate outside Calcutta in London. In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. By that same year there were 158 Missionaries of Charity foundations.

The Missionaries of Charity reached Communist countries in 1979 with a house in Zagreb, Croatia, and in 1980 with a house in East Berlin, and continued to expand through the 1980s and 1990s with houses in almost all Communist nations, including 15 foundations in the former Soviet Union. Despite repeated efforts, however, Mother Teresa was never able to open a foundation in China.

Mother Teresa spoke at the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly in October 1985. On Christmas Eve of that year, Mother Teresa opened "Gift of Love" in New York, her first house for AIDS patients. In the coming years, this home would be followed by others, in the United States and elsewhere, devoted specifically for those with AIDS.

From the late 1980s through the 1990s, despite increasing health problems, Mother Teresa traveled across the world for the profession of novices, opening of new houses, and service to the poor and disaster-stricken. New communities were founded in South Africa, Albania, Cuba, and war-torn Iraq. By 1997, the Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members, and were established in almost 600 foundations in 123 countries of the world.

After a summer of traveling to Rome, New York, and Washington, in a weak state of health, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta in July 1997. At 9:30 PM, on 5 September, Mother Teresa died at the Motherhouse. Her body was transferred to St Thomas's Church, next to the Loreto convent where she had first arrived nearly 69 years earlier. Hundreds of thousands of people from all classes and all religions, from India and abroad, paid their respects. She received a state funeral on 13 September, her body being taken in procession - on a gun carriage that had also borne the bodies of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru - through the streets of Calcutta. Presidents, prime ministers, queens, and special envoys were present on behalf of countries from all over the world.

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Mother Teresa of Calcutta - Catholic Online

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Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, the future Mother Teresa, was born on 26 August 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian heritage. Her father, a well-respected local businessman, died when she was eight years old, leaving her mother, a devoutly religious woman, to open an embroidery and cloth business to support the family.

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Tim Costello advocates for the poor in the midst of Covid

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Tim Costello advocates for the poor in the midst of Covid

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Christian History | Learn the History of Christianity & the Church

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William Wilberforce - Am I not a man and a brother?

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William Wilberforce - Am I not a man and a brother?

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Am I not a man and a brother? - Centre for Public Christianity

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William Wilberforce’s campaign to abolish the slave trade changed the course of history.

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Martin Luther | Biography, Reformation, Accomplishments, Quotes, & Facts

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Martin Luther, German theologian and religious reformer who initiated the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Through his words and actions, Luther precipitated a movement that reformulated certain basic tenets of Christian belief. Learn about his life, education, writings, excommunication, and legacy.

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Mother Teresa - 20th Century Humanitarian | Biography

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Tim Costello criticises the Australian government for not doing enough to help the poor of the world

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Tim Costello criticises the Australian government for not doing enough to help the poor of the world

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Balancing the books on the backs of the poor

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Our generosity as a nation to people in need should be based on our shared humanity, not our budget ups and downs.

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Elizabeth Fry: Prison and Mental Asylum Reformer

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Elizabeth Fry: Prison and Mental Asylum Reformer

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Known for: prison reform, reform of mental asylums, reform of convict ships to Australia

Dates: May 21, 1780 - October 12, 1845
Occupation: reformer
Also Known as: Elizabeth Gurney Fry

About Elizabeth Fry

Elizabeth Fry was born in Norwich, England, into a well-off Quaker (Society of Friends) family. Her mother died when Elizabeth was young. The family practiced "relaxed" Quaker customs, but Elizabeth Fry began to practice a stricter Quakerism. At 17, inspired by the Quaker William Saveny, she put her religious faith into action by teaching poor children and visiting the sick among poor families. She practiced more plain dress, pain speech, and plain living.

In 1800, Elizabeth Gurney married Joseph Fry, who was also a Quaker and, like her father, a banker and merchant. They had eight children between 1801 and 1812. In 1809, Elizabeth Fry began to speak at Quaker meeting and became a Quaker "minister."

Visit to Newgate

In 1813 came a key event in Elizabeth Fry's life: she was talked into visiting the women's prison in London, Newgate, where she observed women and their children in horrible conditions. She didn't return to Newgate until 1816, having two more children int aht time, but she began working for reforms, including those that became themes for her: segregation of the sexes, female matrons for female prisoners, education, employment (often kitting and sewing), and religious instruction.

Organizing for Reform

In 1817, Elizabeth Fry began the Association for the Improvement of Female Prisoners, a group of twelve women who worked for these reforms. She lobbied authorities including Members of Parliament -- a brother-in-law was elected to Parliament in 1818 and became a supporter of her reforms. As a result, in 1818, she was called to testify before a Royal Commission, the first woman to so testify.

Widening Circles of Reform Activism

In 1819, with her brother Joseph Gurney, Elizabeth Fry wrote a report on prison reform. In the 1820s, she inspected prison conditions, advocated reforms and established more reform groups, including many with women members. By 1821, a number of women's reform groups came together as the British Ladies' Society for Promoting the Reformation of Female Prisoners. In 1822, Elizabeth Fry gave birth to her eleventh child. In 1823, prison reform legislation was finally introduced in Parliament.

Elizabeth Fry in the 1830s

Elizabeth Fry traveled extensively in western European countries in the 1830s advocating her preferred prison reform measures. By 1827, her influence had diminished. In 1835, Parliament enacted laws creating harsher prison policies instead, including hard labor and solitary confinement. Her last trip was to France in 1843. Elizabeth Fry died in 1845.

More Reforms

While Elizabeth Fry is known more for her prison reform activities, she was also active in investigating and proposing reforms for mental asylums. For more than 25 years, she visited every convict ship leaving for Australia, and promoted reform of the convict ship system. She worked for nursing standards and established a nursing school which influenced her distant relative, Florence Nightingale. She worked for the education of working women, for better housing for the poor including hostels for the homeless, and she founded soup kitchens.

In 1845, after Elizabeth Fry died, two of her daughters published a two-volume memoir of their mother, with selections from her journals (44 handwritten volumes originally) and letters. It was more hagiography than biography. In 1918, Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards, daughter of Julia Ward Howe, published Elizabeth Fry, the Angel of the Prisons.

In 2003, Elizabeth Fry's image was selected to appear on the English ​five-pound note.

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Learn About How Elizabeth Fry Reformed Prisons and Asylums

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Known for: prison reform, reform of mental asylums, reform of convict ships to Australia Dates: May 21, 1780 - October 12, 1845 Occupation: reformer Also Known as: Elizabeth Gurney Fry Elizabeth Fry was born in Norwich, England, into a well-off Quaker (Society of Friends) family. Her mother died when Elizabeth was young.

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William Wilberforce (born August 24, 1759, Hull, Yorkshire, England-died July 29, 1833, London) was a British politician and philanthropist who from 1787 was prominent in the struggle to abolish the slave trade and then to abolish slavery itself in British overseas possessions.

He studied at St. John's College at the University of Cambridge, where he became a close friend of the future prime minister William Pitt the Younger and was known as an amiable companion rather than an outstanding student. In 1780 both he and Pitt entered the House of Commons, and he soon began to support parliamentary reform and Roman Catholic political emancipation, acquiring a reputation for radicalism that later embarrassed him, especially during the French Revolution, when he was chosen an honorary citizen of France (September 1792). From 1815 he upheld the Corn Laws (tariffs on imported grain) and repressive measures against working-class agitation.

Wilberforce's abolitionism was derived in part from evangelical Christianity, to which he was converted in 1784-85. His spiritual adviser became John Newton, a former slave trader who had repented and who had been the pastor at Wilberforce's church when he was a child. In 1787 Wilberforce helped to found a society for the "reformation of manners" called the Proclamation Society (to suppress the publication of obscenity) and the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade-the latter more commonly called the Anti-Slavery Society. He and his associates- Thomas Clarkson, Granville Sharp, Henry Thornton, Charles Grant, Edward James Eliot, Zachary Macaulay, and James Stephen-were first called the Saints and afterward (from 1797) the Clapham Sect, of which Wilberforce was the acknowledged leader.

In the House of Commons, Wilberforce was an eloquent and indefatigable sponsor of antislavery legislation. In 1789 he introduced 12 resolutions against the slave trade and gave what many newspapers at the time considered among the most eloquent speeches ever delivered in the Commons. The resolutions were supported by Pitt (who was by then prime minister), Charles Fox (often an opponent of Pitt's), and Edmund Burke, but they failed to be enacted into law, and instead the issue was postponed until the next session of Parliament. In 1791 he again brought a motion to the House of Commons to abolish the slave trade, but it was defeated 163 to 88. In 1792 Wilberforce, buttressed by the support of hundreds of thousands of British subjects who had signed petitions favouring the abolition of the slave trade, put forward another motion. However, a compromise measure, supported by Home Secretary Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, that called for gradual abolition was agreed and passed the House of Commons, much to the disappointment of Wilberforce and his supporters. For the next 15 years, Wilberforce was able to achieve little progress toward ending the slave trade (in part because of the domestic preoccupation with the war against Napoleon). In 1807, however, he finally achieved success: on February 23 a bill to abolish the slave trade in the British West Indies was carried in the Commons 283 to 16, accompanied by a chorus of hurrahs for Wilberforce. It became law on March 25.

The 1807 statute did not, however, change the legal position of persons enslaved before its enactment, and so, after several years in which Wilberforce was concerned with other issues, he and Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton urged (from 1821) the immediate emancipation of all slaves. In 1823 he aided in organizing and became a vice president of the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions-again, more commonly called the Anti-Slavery Society. Turning over to Buxton the parliamentary leadership of the abolition movement, he retired from the House of Commons in 1825. On July 26, 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed by the Commons (it became law the following month). Three days later Wilberforce died. He was interred at Westminster Abbey.

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William Wilberforce | Biography, Achievements, & Facts

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William Wilberforce, British politician and philanthropist who from 1787 was prominent in the struggle to abolish the slave trade and then to abolish slavery itself in British overseas possessions. His efforts led to the rescinding of the practice in the British West Indies in 1807 and its total abolition in 1833.

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As a background it is instructive to see the origin of the particular indulgence which aroused such an uproar in Germany. The Roman Church had officially condemned the two practices of simony, the purchase of church offices, and usury, the lending of money for interest. However, usury had become a fashionable and profitable business. The Medici family in Italy and the Fugger family in Germany had amassed large fortunes through lending. Moreover, the wealth of these two families eventually supported the issuing of indulgences in the vicinity of Wittenberg, as shall be seen.

Albrecht of Hohenzollerm, a young man of age 23, held the title of archbishop in one territory and bishop in another and was seeking a third. Such a request required the pope to override several complications. Firstly, it was illegal for one man to hold more than one office at a time. Besides this, Albrecht was too young to hold any of these positions, and he had no theological training whatsoever. In exchange for his approval, Pope Leo X (a member of the Medici banking family) accepted a huge payment from the aspiring archbishop. Albrecht in turn borrowed the necessary funds from the Fuggers. To complete the transaction, the pope allowed Albrecht to repay his debt through the sale of indulgences in Germany.

Scare tactics were used to promote and distribute these fundraising tickets.

What is an indulgence? According to the archbishop it had great value, assuring the buyer of complete forgiveness of sins, participation in the grace of God, and freedom from purgatory. Furthermore the ticket holder would be absolved from all crimes and punishments and would be allowed to exchange any vows for other more agreeable good works. He became a sharer in all the good works performed by all the members of the whole church. The indulgence also provided full remission of sins to departed persons in purgatory. The salesman of these certificates, a Dominican monk named John Tetzel, went even further in claiming that the red cross of the indulgence was equal to the cross of Christ.

Scare tactics were used to promote and distribute these fundraising tickets. The following is an excerpt from one of Tetzel's high-pressure sales pitches:
Listen to the voices of your dear dead relatives and friends, beseeching you and saying, "Pity us, pity us. We are in dire torment from which you can redeem us for a pittance." Do you not wish to? Open your ears. Hear the father saying to his son, the mother to her daughter, "We bore you, nourished you, brought you up, left you our fortunes, and you are so cruel and hard that now you are not willing for so little to set us free. Will you let us lie here in flames? Will you delay our promised glory?" Remember that you are able to release them, for as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs. Will you not for a quarter of a florin receive these letters of indulgence through which you are able to lead a divine and immortal soul into the fatherland of paradise? [15]

Luther refused. He was outraged. How could God's pardon be bought with money?

Tetzel was not allowed to market his wares in Wittenberg nor anywhere else in Saxony. Nevertheless, some of the people of Wittenberg obtained his indulgences by traveling a short distance to cross the border of Saxony. When they took the certificates to Luther, who as a Catholic priest regularly listened to their confessions, some of them demanded absolution with no sign of repentance or sorrow for their sins. Luther refused. He was outraged. How could God's pardon be bought with money?

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As a background it is instructive to see the origin of the particular indulgence which aroused such an uproar in Germany. The Roman Church had officially condemned the two practices of simony, the purchase of church offices, and usury, the lending of money for interest. However, usury had become a fashionable and profitable business.

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Tim Costello talks about the need for Christians to speak out for justice

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Tim Costello talks about the need for Christians to speak out for justice

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Tim Costello re-claims Jesus' words from Fraser Anning | 'Empathy, love, justice and getting to know people is the way we deal with fear.' — Tim Costello responds to the Christchurch Terror Attack, and... | By Micah Australia | Facebook

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21K views, 329 likes, 96 loves, 56 comments, 383 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Micah Australia: 'Empathy, love, justice and getting to know people is the way we deal with fear.' — Tim Costello...

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The Story of William Wilberforce - Documentary

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Martin Luther: The 95 Theses and the Reformation video

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Martin Luther: The 95 Theses and the Reformation video

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Who Was Martin Luther? 95 Theses & The Reformation | World History (1517)

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Biographical information about Tim Costello

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Biographical information about Tim Costello

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Timothy Ewen Costello, (born 4 March 1955) is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a number of books on faith and life. A National Trust poll in 2014 elected him one of Australia's 100 national living treasures.

Costello was born in Melbourne, Victoria, where he grew up in the suburb of Blackburn and was educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School. He is a descendant of Irish immigrant Patrick Costello, who was expelled from the Parliament of Victoria in the 1860s for electoral fraud.

Costello studied at Monash University, graduating with a Bachelor of Jurisprudence degree in 1976, a Bachelor of Laws in 1978 and a Diploma of Education in 1979.

Costello is the brother of Peter Costello, the former treasurer of Australia and Federal Member for Higgins.

Costello practised as a solicitor in family and criminal law, both in established firms and in his own practice.

In 1981, Costello travelled to Switzerland with his wife, Merridie, where they both studied theology at the International Baptist Seminary Rueschlikon near Zurich, before graduating with a Bachelor of Divinity and returning to Australia to become the minister of St Kilda Baptist Church. He also received a Master of Theology from Whitley College, a theological college of the Melbourne College of Divinity.

Ordained as a Baptist minister in 1987, Costello, along with his wife Merridie and a team of others, rebuilt the congregation at the St Kilda Baptist Church and opened a drop-in centre. As part of the church's outreach program, he started a legal office at the church where he practised as a part-time solicitor. He also taught urban ministry at Whitley College, a college of the University of Melbourne.

From 1995 to 2003, Costello was a minister of the Collins Street Baptist Church and the executive director of Urban Seed, a Christian not-for-profit organisation created in response to concern about homelessness, drug abuse and the marginalisation of the city's street people.

Costello served as the president of the Baptist Union of Australia from 1999 to 2002. He has also been patron of Baptist World Aid Australia, a member of the Australian Earth Charter Committee, a council member of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, a spokesperson for the Interchurch Gambling Taskforce, a member of the National Advisory Body on Gambling and a member of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation.[citation needed ]

Costello was elected Mayor of St Kilda Council in 1993 and became well known for championing the cause of local democracy and for his clashes with the Premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett. Kennett attacked Costello as being un- Victorian for speaking out against the gaming-led recovery of the state and often referred to him as "that leftist cleric". Costello's political career ended when his mayoral position was abolished with the whole St Kilda Council in Kennett's reform and consolidation of local government in 1994. Towards the end of that time, he was approached by the Australian Democrats political party to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate, but decided against it, partly due to the likelihood that this could place him in direct conflict with his brother if Peter became Treasurer.

Costello was an elected delegate at the Australian Constitutional Convention in Canberra in February 1998. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was frequently seen in the Australian national media commenting on gambling and other social problems. He also has spoken out in favour of stronger gun control in Australia, acting at times as the co-chairman or spokesman of the National Coalition for Gun Control.

Costello was appointed as CEO of World Vision Australia on 24 November 2003. Having spent much of his career focussing on local and domestic issues, Costello said he relished the opportunity to focus on international issues. In his first full year in the role, Costello became the face of Australia's response to the Boxing Day Tsunami. Costello led fundraising efforts, and World Vision Australia raised over $118 million for relief and rehabilitation programs. During Costello's tenure, the organisation grew from funding 480 projects benefiting 10.4 million people, to more than 800 World Vision development projects benefiting close to 100 million people across the globe including in Australia.

After 13 years as CEO, Costello announced that he was stepping aside to become the Chief Advocate for World Vision Australia on 9 May 2016. He remained as Chief Advocate for a further two years before resigning on 7 June 2019, citing the physical and emotional toll of the role over many years.

Costello has since become the Director of Ethical Voice,[citation needed ] Executive Director of Micah Australia and a Senior Fellow at Centre for Public Christianity. He is also Chair of the Community Council of Australia and an Advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform.

Costello received the Victorian of the Year award in July 2004 in recognition of his public and community service.[citation needed ] He was made an officer of the Order of Australia in June 2005 and was the Victorian nominee for the Australian of the Year award in 2006. He is the 2008 winner of the Australian Peace Prize awarded by the Peace Organisation of Australia. He is also listed by the National Trust as a " National Living Treasure".

In 2008, Costello received an honorary doctorate from the Australian Catholic University in recognition of "his contributions to religious life and social justice".

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Timothy Ewen Costello, (born 4 March 1955) is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a number of books on faith and life.

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Why William Wilberforce was a hero for humanity

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In a world ruled by the church, all it took was one little nail, one well-written scroll, and one sharp-tongued monk to turn everything upside-down! ...

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Tim Costello - Christians need to look to end Covid for all people

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William Wilberforce and the end of the African Slave Trade

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William Wilberforce & the End of the African Slave Trade - Christian History Made Easy

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William Wilberforce: The Story of Amazing Grace

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