Mother Teresa orphanages registers in international adoptions system
The congregation suspended adoptive practices in 2015, when the Indian government opened adoption to single, separated or divorced people. The state registration of institutions allows them to "give a face" to the orphans.
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, have resumed the registration of their orphanages in the Indian system of international adoptions. This does not mean, says a Catholic source, "that the adoptions will resume. It is necessary to see if the sisters will put conditions on the choice of future parents ".
The stop to national and international adoptions by the institutes run by the Sisters of Mother Teresa is in force since August 2015, since the Nirmala Shishu Bhawans (orphanages) stopped all practices. The stop was a protest against government guidelines that allow adoption even to single, separated or divorced and, in a more general sense, even to homosexuals and gay couples.
In the last week the news broke that the religious would have confidently resumed the adopted practices. Confirmation was given by Indian minister for the development of women and children, Maneka Gandhi, who met a delegation of nuns on 29 October. Later the minister leaked details on the congregation’s openness to resume adoptions after three years of suspension. Although there is no official confirmation, the experts believe that the minister's attention is due to the attempt to control what happens in the institutes, after the case of buying and selling of minors in Ranchi.
The news of the meeting caused quite a stir in India. On 2 November Sr. Prema Pierick, superior general of the order, intervened confirming the meeting with Gandhi. In the official note, she declares that she "informed the honorable minister that most of the homes for children [48 out of a total of 79] were already registered according to the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 and the remaining ones are completing registration formalities ". At the end of the note, Sr. Prema affirms: "We pray that the collaboration between the Missionaries of charity and the honorable minister and his ministry can serve the good of the children of God in need of love and care".
According to the Juvenile Justice (2015), all institutions that host minors - run by the state or private NGOs - have the obligation to register for the "Carings", the guide and information system on the adoption of children . Once registered, it is mandatory to affiliate to the nearest entity that deals with adoptions. Subsequently, the practices are managed by Cara (the Central Authority for Adoptions), which carries out pre-access checks and selection of minors.
The registration of the institutes, explains an adoption expert, "allows us to give a face to the poor orphans, the sick or the disabled, who otherwise would remain 'invisible' people. At the same time, it is only from within the Cara system that the sisters of Mother Teresa could assert their opinions if they intended to change the legislation ".
According to Catholic personalities, the declaration of Sr. Prema does not confirm what is "taken for granted by the minister and the press. It is not certain that after the registration of the orphanages, the nuns are willing to give children in foster care to singles or gay couples. It is probable that they will continue to oppose this point and to want to make their own selection of the future parents, without prejudice to the good of the minor ".
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07/02/2019 17:28
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