The New York Times - December 25, 1985
Joyce Purnick

"We are hoping that they will be able to live and die in peace by getting tender love and care, because each one of them is Jesus in a distressing disguise," Mother Teresa said as she stood between John Cardinal O'Connor and Mayor Koch at a news conference in front of the hospice.

In answer to questions from reporters, she said that she deliberately asked for the release of the prisoners -and arranged to announce the opening of the new shelter - on Christmas Eve "because Jesus was born, so I wanted also to help them be born in joy and love and peace."

The three prisoners, all serving sentences for robbery, were granted medical furloughs after Mother Teresa called Mayor Koch and asked him to approach Governor Cuomo. He did.

"I also told him," the Mayor said before the news conference, "that Mother Teresa and the Cardinal and I would be blessing the hospice. I told him, 'If you want to get in on the blessing - fly down,' " The Governor instead sent his Correction Commissoner, Thomas A. Coughlin 3d. #2 Calls From Cuomo Mother Teresa, the recipient of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, told reporters that after Mr. Koch intervened, the Governor called her twice, first to hear her request and then to grant it.

"I really feel like a blessed instrument, to be the vehicle for making this request," said the Mayor, chuckling. Nobody could have made government move as quickly as Mother Teresa did, he added. "When Mother Teresa calls and says she wants something done, it happens," he said.

The Cardinal also praised Mother Teresa, and said he hoped that his church would be able to do more for AIDS patients. "We hope that what Mother Teresa and others are doing will help lead the way and show that it can be done," he said, adding that because of the increase in AIDS cases and the need for care, "it's a much bigger problem than we'll be able to tackle at the moment."

The new hospice, at 657 Washington Street, in the rectory of St. Veronica's Church, will ultimately provide care to 14 men suffering from AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome. It now has one patient, a small man, bent over and in apparent pain as he entered the hospice almost unnoticed last night, making his way through the crowd of reporters and television crews summoned to the ordinarily quiet street in time for the 6 o'clock news broadcasts.

Community Opposition

"Thank you for publicizing this," the Cardinal said to the reporters. "We want people to know we're trying to help, regardless of their religion or their moral beliefs or anything of that sort."

Last summer, opposition from parishioners forced the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York to cancel plans for an AIDS shelter on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Mr. Koch also withdrew a city plan to open a facility for AIDS patients in Queens, citing community opposition and plans by the Cardinal and Mother Teresa to provide an alternate, church-owned site.

The hospice that opened last night is a result of that commitment.

The three men, who were released yesterday from the state prison at Ossining, known as Sing Sing, were brought to St. Clare's Hospital on 52d Street in Manhattan, Mother Teresa said. They will later be brought to the hospice.

The three prisoners are: Antonio Rivera, 36 years old, serving two-and-a-half to five years; Jimmy Matos, 27, serving four-and-a-half to nine years; and Darryl Monsett, 31, serving two to six years.

All are severely incapacitated and terminally ill, according to Commissioner Coughlin. The concept of a medical furlough was sensible, he said. "I don't think a person very ill with AIDS has to be in a maximum-security prison," he said. "It's just not necessary."

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