Sister Mary Prema Pierick, M.C. (born 13 May 1953), is a German-born

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

religious sister and the former

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized ...

of the

Missionaries of Charity The Missionaries of Charity ( la, Congregatio Missionariarum a Caritate) is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women established in 1950 by Mother Teresa, now known in the Catholic Church as ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

, India, the

religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecra ...

founded by the Saint

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was ...

of Calcutta. She is of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

origin.

Biography

Pierick was born Mechthild Pierick in a farming community in

Reken Reken is a municipality in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 15 km east of Borken. Sister Mary Prema Sister Mary Prema Pierick, M.C. (born 13 May 1953), is a German-born Indian Ca ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. In 1980, after reading the biography of the foundress, ''Something Beautiful for God'' by

Malcolm Muggeridge Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romford, in Essex). In ...

, she went to meet Mother Teresa in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. She felt called to join her work and moved to India to join the Missionaries. Pierick eventually became the Regional Superior of the institute for the Sisters in Europe. She returned to India to supervise the

tertianship Tertianship is the final period of formation for members of the Society of Jesus. Upon invitation of the Provincial, it usually begins three to five years after completion of graduate studies. It is a time when the candidate for final vows steps ba ...

program of the institute, the last stage of training before final

religious profession In the Catholic Church, a religious profession is the solemn admission of men or women into consecrated life by means of the pronouncement of religious vows, typically the evangelical counsels. Usage The 1983 Code of Canon Law defines the ...

. She succeeded Sister

Nirmala Joshi Maria Nirmala Joshi (23 July 1934 – 23 June 2015) was an Indian Catholic Religious Sister who succeeded Nobel laureate Mother Teresa as the head of her Missionaries of Charity and expanded the movement overseas. After taking over the charity ...

as Superior General on 24 March 2009, heading an organisation which had over 5,000 members worldwide at that time.Mother Teresa Center

References

External links

New head of Mother Teresa order to follow her footsteps, AFPGerman-born nun to head Mother Teresa's order, AP
1953 births Living people 20th-century German Roman Catholic nuns People who lost German citizenship People with acquired Indian citizenship German emigrants to India People from Borken (district) Superiors general 21st-century Indian Roman Catholic nuns {{Germany-reli-bio-stub