In her extraordinary journey from Kosovo to India and then around the world, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the religious woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and canonized in 2016 by Pope Francis, experienced suffering and glory, renunciation and power. Explaining and showing by his own example why-as Francis of Assisi had done centuries earlier-poverty is not to be fought but loved.

Alessandro Barbero teaches medieval history at the University of Eastern Piedmont.