New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to condole the death of Sister Nirmala Joshi, former head of the Missionaries of Charity.
“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,” the prime minister tweeted immediately after the news about Sister Nirmala broke.
The 81-year-old nun died in Kolkata early morning Tuesday after ailing with heart problems for more than two years. 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. She succeeded Mother Teresa as the head of the Missionaries of Charity on March 3, 1997. She stepped down in 2009.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to pay her tributes and added that the world would miss Sister Nirmala.
Fr George Pattery, Jesuit provincial of South Asia, described Sr. Nirmala as “a mystic at heart, prophet in spirit, acutely sensitive to the sufferings of the poor and intensely close to Indian ethos. We miss her disarming smile.”
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India does not issue condolence messages for heads of religious congregation as a policy. “We hold Sister Nirmala in high esteem but we want to stick to our policy,” Monsignor Joseph Chinnayyan said when asked to respond to the death.
However, individual bishops expressed sadness over the death. Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore said he was deeply sad at the passing away of Sister Nirmala.
In Indore, large number of people from all religions Tuesday visited Jyoti Niwas, Missionaries of Charity’s house for orphans, destitute and dying to pay their homage to her.
Indore diocese and Missionaries of Charity Sisters plan to organize a prayer meeting at the Red Church at 4.00 pm on Wednesday to coincide with the funeral service in Kolkata.
Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, who heads a center for human rights in Ahmedabad and a close associate of Sister Nirmala, condoled the death and hailed her as a “great soul” and “fitting successor to Mother.”
Recalling Sister Nirmala’s visit to Ahmedabad soon after her election, the priest said she had charmed everyone she encountered: “the poor and the powerful, the literate and illiterate, people from all walks of life and of diverse religious beliefs.”
At an inter-religious prayer meeting, she truly spoke from her heart “telling those present very categorically that true religion is in the ability to unite and to love one another.”