Maseru, 24 July, 2020 / 8:35 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops in Southern Africa have eulogized the late Archbishop Emeritus of Lesotho’s Maseru Archdiocese, Bernard Mohlalisi, recalling with appreciation his pastoral service to the people of God in Lesotho and offering “hospitality and spiritual care” to exiled South Africans during the apartheid regime.
Archbishop Mohlalisi, a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), passed on Friday, July 24 at the age of 87, the leadership of OMI announced on Facebook.
In a July 24 collective solidarity message to the President of Lesotho Catholic Bishops’ Conference (LCBC), Bishop Tumahole Augustinus Bane OMI, members of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) have expressed their “most sincere condolences on this great loss for the Church and nation of Lesotho.”
In the one-page condolence message obtained by ACI Africa, SACBC members acknowledge Archbishop Mohlalisi’s “outstanding service to the people of God for 29 years as Archbishop.”
“We remember with gratitude how he, as leader of the Church in Lesotho, received our exiles from the apartheid regime and offered them hospitality and spiritual care,” SACBC members say in their message signed by the President of the three-nation Conference, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka says.