Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I. (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 'pre ...

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 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, ...

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 adm ...

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 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 ...

Peter Bryan Wells. Khoarai died on 17 April 2021.

References

External links

* * {{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