Mary Prema Pierick | |
Honorific-Suffix: | MC |
Birth Name: | Mechthild Pierick |
Birth Date: | 1953 5, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Reken, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
Period: | 2009-2022 |
Successor: | Sister Mary Joseph, MC |
Mary Prema Pierick, MC (born 13 May 1953), is a German-born Indian religious sister and the former Superior General[1] [2] [3] [4] of the Missionaries of Charity of Calcutta, India, the religious institute founded by the Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Pierick was born Mechthild Pierick in a farming community in Reken, Germany. In 1980, after reading the biography of the foundress, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge, she went to meet Mother Teresa in Berlin. She felt called to join her work and moved to India to join the Missionaries of Charity.[5]
Pierick eventually became the Regional Superior of the institute for the sisters in Europe. She returned to India to supervise the tertianship program of the institute, the last stage of training before the perpetual vows. She succeeded Sister Nirmala Joshi as Superior General on 24 March 2009, heading an organisation which had over 5,000 members worldwide at that time.[6]