Sister Nirmala will be Mother Teresa's successor

Sister Nirmala was elected as the new Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity on Thursday.

Mother Teresa, however, remains the Mother Superior of the mission she founded in 1947.

A Hindu convert to Catholicism, Sister Nirmala, 63, told reporters after the election, ''it is a big responsibility. Looking at myself I feel afraid whether I will able to bear the responsibility but looking at god I think I can.''

Sister Nirmala will help Mother Teresa in various administrative and related activities of the organisation which provides succour to the ailing and people in distress as the Nobel Laureate has been unwell for many months now.

Sources said Sister Nirmala's election was near unanimous. Mother Teresa was present during the election held at the general chapter of the Missionaries of Charity as per the rules of the constitution of the Roman Catholic order. She blessed her successor.

Mother Teresa, 86, had long bouts of illnesses in the past few years. She had an angioplasty operation to remove blockages from two arteries last year after a mild heart attack. Lung infections and kidney problems prolonged the convalescence.

The Mother had offered to step down way back in 1990, but was re-elected as the head of the organisation. Elections were to be held last year also, but the process was delayed due to the Mother's poor health.

Meetings to find a successor to the ailing Mother restarted in January, culminating in the choice of Sister Nirmala as the superior general.

The Mother appeared on the balcony of Mother House, the three-storeyed headquarters of her organisation, with the new superior general and three other senior sisters.

"You pray for her (Sister Nirmala), god bless you,'' Mother Teresa told the media. She said she had prayed for Sister Nirmala '' to continue god's work with great love.''

Sister Nirmala, whose family has a military background, was considered the dark horse for one of the most visible positions in the Catholic church. She led the mission's contemplative wing, and once served as a missionary in the US.

Sister Nirmala will be aided by a council of four members to be elected before the nuns disperse to their missions around the world.

It is not clear if she or any one else can maintain the worldwide profile that Mother Teresa gave the order.

``She will always be there as the Mother,'' said Sunita Kumar, a friend of Mother Teresa for 30 years and one of the few outsiders who was privy to the sisters' deliberations. ``The Missionaries of Charity will go on," she said. "The sisters have been working very closely with Mother for years. They are all very capable and dedicated.''

Related links:

In God's hands

Mother Teresa, a source of inspiration...

The Muckraking of Mother Teresa

Other Links