Thousands pay homage to Sister Nirmala

KOLKATA: Thousands of people today flocked to Mother House here to pay their last respect to Sister Nirmala who passed away yesterday after a prolonged illness.

After today's morning mass, Sister Nirmala's body was taken from Sealdah's St John's Church, where it was kept the entire night, to the Mother House for people to pay their homage.

Priests of Churches as well as representatives from Missionaries of Charity (MoC) in different states and abroad have arrived in the city to attend the funeral of Sister Nirmala, who succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of MoC founded by the Nobel laureate.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who described Sister Nirmala's death as an "irreparable loss", would be present at the funeral mass scheduled at the Mother House at around 4 PM today, a Missionaries of Charity official said.

"After the funeral mass at Mother House, her body will be taken to the St John's Church cemetery for the last rites," the official said.

Sister Nirmala was 81. She had been suffering from heart-related problems for the past few months and her health condition had deteriorated in May.

On March 13, 1997, six months before Mother Teresa's death, Sister Nirmala was selected the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity.

Sister Mary Prema was elected to succeed Sister Nirmala during a general chapter held in Calcutta in April 2009.