Republic India Coins, Proof Set, Currencies: 2010 - Mother Teresa Birth Centenary

This Post gives the details of the Kolkata Mint UNC Set. For Proof Set refer to the Previous Post. For Hyderabad Mint UNC issues, refer to the next post.

To mark the Birth Centenary of Mother Teresa, in the Year 2010, a Proof set and an UNC Set was released. The Rs 5 Coin was also released for circulation.
The details are;

Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was a Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries. Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

In the 1970s, she became well-known internationally for her humanitarian work and advocacy for the rights of the poor and helpless, which was documented by Malcolm Muggeridge in his documentary and subsequent book Something Beautiful for God. Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity continued to grow during her life-time, and at the time of her death, they had 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programs, orphanages, and schools.

Governments, charity organisations and prominent individuals have been inspired by her work. She received numerous awards, including a number from the Indian Government, one of which was the Bharat Ratna (1980), as well as international awards, such as the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She has not been without her critics, however, including prominent atheist Christopher Hitchens, cultural critic Michael Parenti, Indian-English Medical Doctor Aroup Chatterjee and the Vishva Hindu Parishad. They accuse her of proselytizing, strongly opposing contraception and abortion, believing in poverty's spiritual goodness and alleged 'secret baptisms of the dying'.

In 2010 on the 100th anniversary of her birth, she was honoured around the world, and her work praised by Indian President Pratibha Patil
After Mother Teresa's death in 1997, the Holy See began the process of beatification, the third step toward possible canonization. This process requires the documentation of a miracle performed from the intercession of Mother Teresa

In 2002, the Vatican recognized as a miracle the healing of a tumor in the abdomen of an Indian woman, Monica Besra, after the application of a locket containing Mother Teresa's picture. Besra said that a beam of light emanated from the picture, curing the cancerous tumor. Critics—including some of Besra's medical staff and, initially, Besra's husband—insisted that conventional medical treatment had eradicated the tumor. Dr. Ranjan Mustafi, who told The New York Times he had treated Besra, said that the cyst was not cancer at all but a cyst caused by tuberculosis. He insisted, "It was not a miracle.... She took medicines for nine months to one year." According to Besra’s husband, “My wife was cured by the doctors and not by any miracle.”
Christopher Hitchens was the only witness called by the Vatican to give evidence against Mother Teresa's beatification and canonization process, because the Vatican had abolished the traditional "devil's advocate" role, which fulfilled a similar purpose. Hitchens has argued that "her intention was not to help people," and he alleged that she lied to donors about the use of their contributions. “It was by talking to her that I discovered, and she assured me, that she wasn't working to alleviate poverty,” says Hitchens. “She was working to expand the number of Catholics. She said, ‘I'm not a social worker. I don't do it for this reason. I do it for Christ. I do it for the church.’”

In the process of examining Teresa's suitability for beatification and canonization, the Roman Curia (the Vatican) pored over a great deal of documentation of published and unpublished criticism of her life and work. Vatican officials say Hitchens's allegations have been investigated by the agency charged with such matters, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and they found no obstacle to Mother Teresa's beatification. The beatification of Mother Teresa took place on 19 October 2003, thereby bestowing on her the title "Blessed."

A second miracle is required for her to proceed to canonization.

UNC Set: Both Coins of Rs 100 and Rs 5