What evidence did Hitchens present in 'The Missionary Position' to support his claims?

1. Core thesis and sources Hitchens invoked

Hitchens framed the book as an expansion of earlier polemics and a television script, presenting The Missionary Position as an investigative polemic that combined his reporting, documentary work, and prior columns; the text and contemporaneous accounts make clear he leaned on reportage, archival quotations, and his Hell’s Angel research to back his claims ^{[6] [2] [3]}.

2. Medical standards and treatment of the poor: descriptive evidence cited

A central strand of Hitchens’ evidence consists of descriptions and reports of the conditions in Missionaries of Charity clinics—claims that medical care was rudimentary, sometimes unsanitary, and aimed more at spiritual preparation for death than modern curative treatment—which he and later commentators summarized as showing little material improvement for patients ^{[7] [8] [4]}.

3. Money, fundraising and use of donations: comparative claims

Hitchens juxtaposed the order’s large global income with what he portrayed as low standards of care and inadequate reinvestment in medical infrastructure, citing reported millions in donations and arguing this disparity raised legitimate questions about priorities and accountability ^{[4] [7]}.

4. Political contacts, praise for dictators and controversial donors

Another pillar of Hitchens’ case was a catalogue of Mother Teresa’s associations with powerful or disreputable figures—allegations that she accepted praise, donations, or contact with leaders such as Jean‑Claude Duvalier and other prominent politicians and financiers—presented to support his contention that she comforted the powerful while urging resignation on the poor ^{[1] [9]}.

5. Specific episodes Hitchens highlighted as emblematic

Hitchens pointed to discrete episodes as symptomatic evidence: her letter to Judge Lance Ito on behalf of Charles Keating was cited as an example of questionable advocacy, and operational choices—like conflicts over building modifications such as elevators in New York—were used to suggest rigid, sometimes impractical policies by the Missionaries of Charity ^{[5] [5]}.

6. Method, tone and documentary amplification

The book repackaged material Hitchens had already aired in Hell’s Angel and in columns; reviewers and publishers described the work as polemic and meticulously argued, while critics accused him of rhetorical excess and selective emphasis—an interplay that is visible in how Hitchens combined documentary evidence, moral judgment, and incendiary language ^{[3] [10] [11]}.

7. Rebuttals, contested facts and interpretive disputes

Contemporaneous and later critics challenged both specific facts and Hitchens’ interpretation: scholars and defenders argued that he misunderstood or ignored Catholic doctrine, mischaracterized motives, and sometimes omitted context (for example, explanations offered for operational choices cited by Hitchens), while supporters said his evidence raised overdue questions about accountability and the cult of celebrity around charity ^{[6] [5] [1]}.

8. Assessment: what the evidence supports and what remains debated

Hitchens provided documentary episodes, reported descriptions of clinical conditions, a ledger of prominent donors and political contacts, and named incidents to underpin his thesis that Mother Teresa’s work prioritized spiritual consolation and public image in ways that deserve scrutiny; however, defenders point to omissions, alternative explanations, and charged rhetoric, and some specific factual claims remain disputed in the sources Hitchens used and in the ensuing debate ^{[7] [4] [5]}.