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Catholic World News News Feature

Missionaries of Charity copyright Mother Teresa's name July 09, 2003

Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity are trying to copyright their foundress' name to prevent other organizations--mainly for-profit businesses--from capitalizing on the holy woman's name and reputation.

"We are seeking legal protection for the use of our logo, and also want such protection for the name of Mother Teresa and that of the Missionaries of Charity," Sister Nirmala, the superior of the order, said in a statement. "In her lifetime, Mother Teresa expressed on a number occasions her wish that her name not be used by any other individuals or organizations without her permission, and after her death, the permission of her successor." The order has already convinced a business school, the "Mother Teresa Institute of Management," to drop the nun's name.

Mother Teresa, who was of Albanian descent and founded the order in 1950, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She is due to beatified at the Vatican on October 19. She died in 1997 in Calcutta at the age of 87. The Missionaries of Charity have filed a copyright request at the Indian patents office.