News

Missionaries of Charity ex-head Sister Nirmala passes away

by IBNS 23 Jun 2015, 10:41 am

Kolkata, June 23 (IBNS) Sister Nirmala, who had succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) and consolidated the order of nuns founded by the late Nobel laureate, died on Tuesday morning at age 81.

Born in what is now called Jharkhand state in 1934, her parents- who were Hindu- were from Nepal. She got educated under the Christian missionaries in Patna and later joined the MoC founded by the late Nobel laureate Mother Teresa.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a tweet, "Saddened at the passing of Sister Nirmala who headed Missionaries of Charity after Mother Teresa. Kolkata and the world will miss her."

She was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of India, in 2009 for her services to the nation when her term as Superior General also ended on 25 March 2009.

She was succeeded by German-born Sister Mary Prema Pierick, M.C.