Sebastian Koto Khoarai,
O.M.I.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...
(11 September 1929 – 17 April 2021) was a
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...
of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
who was bishop of Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho from 1977 to 2014. He was made a cardinal in 2016 and was the first and so far the only cardinal from Lesotho.
Biography
Khoarai was born in Koaling in the diocese of Leribe in 1929. He entered the
Oblates of Mary Immaculate
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary Congregation of Papal Right, religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a France, French priest born in Aix-en-Provence ...
and was ordained a priest in 1956.
In 1977 he was appointed bishop of Mohale's Hoek. He received his episcopal consecration in 1978. In May 2006, he submitted his resignation upon reaching the age limit of 75, but remained as
apostolic administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
of the diocese until February 2014. From 1982 to 1987 he served as president of the Episcopal Conference of Lesotho.
On 9 October 2016,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
announced that Khoarai would be created a cardinal on 19 November 2016 and become Lesotho's first cardinal. Due to his health he was unable to attend the consistory on 19 November, but he later received the
biretta
The biretta ( la, biretum, birretum) is a square cap with three or four peaks or horns, sometimes surmounted by a tuft. Traditionally the three-peaked biretta is worn by Catholic clergy and some Anglican and Lutheran clergy. A four-peaked bire ...
in Lesotho from the
apostolic nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
Peter Bryan Wells
Peter Bryan Wells (born May 12, 1963) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has spent most of his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has worked in Rome in the administration of the Secretariat of State and i ...
.
Khoarai died on 17 April 2021.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khoarai, Sebastian Koto
1929 births
2021 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Africa
Cardinals created by Pope Francis
Lesotho cardinals
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Africa
People from Leribe District
Roman Catholic bishops of Mohale's Hoek
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate