This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Much of the world watched the sainthood of Mother Teresa this month and was reminded about the selflessness of this amazing woman.

Not all shared the admiration of the Mother Teresa and her works, as was evidenced by the op-ed of Gregory Clark published on Sept. 12.

Clark has an obvious distaste for the Catholic Church and religion as a whole. I found his piece disturbing and vitriolic, especially connecting the Canonization of Mother Teresa to the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Clark seems unwilling to accept anything other than his own view of the world.

Faith in God, or whatever one might believe in, without the ability to prove or see it is a strong force in many people's lives. Not all of us, even those of us with science backgrounds, need exacting evidence to believe in the existence of God. Indeed, science itself is not exact and often relies on theories and unprovable beliefs. And many faithful often live with doubt about their faiths and the existence of God in their lives. Mother Teresa herself held such doubts. She admitted that during times in her life that "The Place of God in my soul is blank" and that "He is not there."

And those of us who are members of churches recognize that humans run our churches, with all their faults and failures. Catholics are not proud of the abuse scandal and how it was handled by some in positions of responsibility in the Catholic Church. It was horrific. However, we also see those same situations in our schools, universities, non-profits and other organizations where people have access to young or other vulnerable people. We do not abandon those institutions but seek to improve them.

To paint a broad brush against Mother Teresa (now Saint Teresa) because of the abuse scandal is absurd.

Mother Teresa was a saint, in more ways than one. She was a saint in ways that Clark cannot recognize. For decades, she ministered to the sick and poorest of the poor. She held people that none would hold, saw value in those that others discarded. She was even called the "saint of the gutters."

There are many in Salt Lake community who spend countless hours ministering to the poor, taking care of the homeless in their dying hours, and just giving a nice word to someone begging in the streets. They are not Mother Teresa, but are often inspired by people like Mother Teresa and do what they can in their own small ways.

The real miracle may not have been in the cures claimed to be performed but Saint Teresa's ability to give her whole self to others and to find worth in others. If only we had more Saint Teresas, the world would be a better place to live and full of miracles in our own humanity.

Peter Corroon is board president of Catholic Community Services.