Sister Nirmala, Mother Teresa's successor, dies at 81

Sister Nirmala Joshi, the former superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, passes away at 81. Sister Nirmala had replaced Mother Teresa as the superior general in 1997. A Missionaries of Charity official said Sister Nirmala was not keeping well for the past few days and her health was gradually deteriorating.

Her body would be brought to Mother House on Wednesday morning and the funeral will be held at 4 PM. "Any one who wants to pay respect can come to Mother House tomorrow", the official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences through tweet . His tweet read, "Sister Nirmala's life ws devoted to service, caring for poor, underprivileged. Saddened by her demise. May her soul rest in peace. My deepest condolences to the Missionaries of Charity family on the passing away of Sister Nirmala."

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too on Tuesday took to Twitter to pay her tributes and added that the world would miss Sister Nirmala. Sister Nirmala was born in Ranchi on July 23, 1934 to a Brahmin soldier who came from Nepal. She had joined the Order at the age of 17.

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. PTI