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Part XX of a “Cancer/Medical Moonshot” Series
Today, Holy Wednesday, this columnist reports on North Carolina’s Mother Teresa Parish’s “A.N.G.E.L.S.” Or, as more easily written, ANGELS. It is an acronym this columnist coined, meaning “America’s Newest Givers of Empathy, Love, and Support”.
The Mother Teresa Parish’s ANGELS have literally and figuratively been doing some of Mother Teresa’s humanitarian work. They care for their fellow parishioners who have the misfortune of falling ill to serious diseases like cancer. They do what Mother Teresa and her fellow nuns did in ministering to the sick, as the Redeemer did. Perhaps Pope Leo XIV can motivate many of the Catholic Church’s 225,000 other parishes to have their own flocks of ANGELS, too, as part of the “War on Cancer” that the Vatican shall hopefully spearhead worldwide.
Yes, Mother Teresa’s ANGELS in Cary (NC) apparently have come up with a viable template for organizing support to, and for, people living with cancer and those afflicted with other serious ailments. If the Vatican really wants to motivate all its parishes in so many countries around the world, perhaps it only needs to ask the parish council, its parish priest, and lay members of the Saint Mother Teresa Church (SMTC) of Cary (NC) about how they are providing support. And how they fund it—without the benefit of any corporate sponsor.
The SMTC ANGELS volunteer group relies on support from its parishioners to drive seriously ill parishioners to and from the Duke Cancer Center or other medical centers for radiation, chemotherapy, or doctor’s appointments. On the way home, some of the volunteer drivers even pass by a restaurant to order take-out food for the patient to bring home. On other days, other volunteers take turns in delivering food to the patient’s residence five days a week. If the patient is awake, the fellow parishioner(s) and some of their family or members (who deliver the food) spend time talking with the patient and providing more moral support. Y
Yes, this columnist has joined some SMTC volunteers in driving a patient to the hospital for medical appointments. He has seen and observed the ANGELS at work.The Mother Teresa Catholic Church in Cary, NC, was officially designated as a parish on January 1, 2023. It is recognized as the first Catholic parish in the United States dedicated to St. Teresa of Calcutta. The community began as a mission in 2016 following her canonization before becoming an independent parish.
St. Mother Teresa is best known for founding the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1950, dedicating her life and that of her fellow nuns to serving “the poorest of the poor”. She became a global icon for her humanitarian work. She led her fellow nuns and volunteers to minister to the sick, dying, and especially the handicapped and those abandoned by society. She was awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.
On February 8, 2026, Part VI of this series discussed “It Takes More Than a Village for Medical Miracles to Happen.” The Vatican, other Catholic and Christian churches — and even other denominations or religions — may like to read it at this link.
And help in cutting down the annual 10-million global fatalities that cancer alone causes. Yes, state-of-the-art medical procedures. Community support, prayers, and other factors all help in achieving medical miracles.
