Missionaries of Charity continue to pray for China mission
By Anne Nigli
KOLKATA, India (UCAN) — The newly elected superior general of the Missionaries of Charity (MC) says her congregation still awaits God’s signal to complete their founder’s unfulfilled dream of working in China.
«We are prepare to go (to China) as soon as possible,» Sister Mary Prema told a press conference on March 27, three days after she was elected to head the Religious congregation Blessed Teresa of Kolkata started 62 years ago. Before her death in 1997, Blessed Teresa used to say that not being able to visit China was her biggest regret.
Sister Prema said her nuns are «still praying daily to God» to open a house in China. «God will do it in his time,» she said, adding that her congregation now has about 4,950 nuns who manage 766 houses around the world, including 246 in India.
At her first press conference, held at the congregation’s headquarters in Kolkata, eastern India, the German nun, who will turn 56 on May 13, answered a volley of questions that touched on issues ranging from abortion to violence against Christians in India. She also spoke about her family and her vocation.
Sister Prema said a «very clear call of Jesus» had inspired her to join the congregation after she learned of Mother Teresa, as the MC sisters refer to their founder, in «Something Beautiful for God,» a biography the late British writer Malcolm Muggeridge wrote about her.
She said she met Mother Teresa for the first time at a youth gathering in Berlin in 1980 and later that year joined the MC community in Essen, Germany. She recalled being «very much» attracted by Mother Teresa’s love and compassion to work for the poorest of the poor.
Asked how she would take Blessed Teresa’s vision forward, Sister Prema answered that the election was a «big surprise» for her. «So I have not thought of this before.»
Mother Teresa, she said, led the society with a spirit and charism, driven by God, while Sister Nirmala Joshi, who took over from her, built up the congregation for 12 years with creativity and sanctity. «I will follow them, and God will show the way and give strength step by step,» she added.
Sister Prema was born Mechtilde Pierick in Reken, a small town in Westphalia, Germany. She said her parents were farmers, and her elder brother and twin sister are both married with children.
In 1997, Sister Prema was elected an MC councilor, and in September that year, she came to Kolkata for Mother Teresa’s funeral. She served as one of four councilors who worked closely with Sister Nirmala for the past 12 years and has lived here since 2001.
At the recent general chapter, Sister Nirmala, who served two terms as superior general, declined another term of office for health reasons.
The election of her successor was held in the presence of Archbishop Lucas Sircar of Calcutta on March 24. Sister Prema was elected the third MC superior general on the first ballot with a two-thirds majority.
The new congregational leader said she spent most of her early years in the MC society in Italy, where she cared for the homeless and children being adopted, helping in soup kitchens, and doing other work. Later she served in southwestern Europe and also in Morocco.
Sister Prema said the first thing she wanted to do as superior general was to get to learn about the MC communities and their work in various parts of India. She wants to visit as many houses in the country as she can during her six-year term.
When questioned about vocations, Sister Prema said many women still join the MC nuns, but not as many as before. The number has come down possibly due to smaller family size these days, she suggested, noting that they still get a good number of vocations from Africa, the Philippines and the United States.
Asked about her stand on abortion, Sister Prema said: «The Church has not changed. … We must work for preservation of life and its dignity.»
Quizzed about her views on religious conversion, she asserted that every human has the right to believe what she or he wants and understands as the truth. If a call for conversion arises, it is God’s work, she stressed.
When asked to comment on the violence against Christians in India’s Orissa state, she said, «We suffer what others feel; we pray and stand together with the persecuted.» But asked whether she would follow Sister Nirmala’s example in calling for peace in troubled areas in India, Sister Prema replied, «God has to inspire us at the right time.»
Answering a question about what Sister Nirmala would do now, Sister Prema responded: «She will always be a big sister and continue to guide and counsel us, a very great inspiration for all of us.»
Sister Prema also said that MC Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, postulator of Blessed Teresa’s sainthood cause, had told her that miracles attributed to the founder are under investigation. «God has predestined the time for canonization,» she added.
