Maseru, March 09 — The Roman Catholic Church (RCC) Archbishop Tlali Lerotholi OMI says the late founding father of the nation, Morena Moshoeshoe I must be honoured with dignity by all including the rest of the church.
He said this in an interview with the Agency prior March 11, commemoration of Moshoeshoe’s day, adding that during this period, the church recalls how the deceased successfully built a strong and cohesive system.
He recalled that in the early 1830’s, mission work developed slowly in Lesotho as Eugene Casalis and colleagues carefully learned various things locally including Sesotho, thereby making progress between 1830 – 1840.
He reiterated that, at the time the body of Christians started growing gradually, developed at Morija, Beersheba, Thaba-Bosiu and the other mission stations.
Schools were founded, many of the leading figures in the nation were converts or were sympathetic to the new teachings. The missionaries, he added, introduced among other things new crops, animal breeds, and building techniques from other parts of the world.
Furthermore, he stated that LECSA arrived prior 1862 when RCC arrived with the Anglican church having been introduced later. He mentioned that the role of the church since the formation of the Basotho nation over 200 years ago has been a positive one in the history of the nation.
Making an example with RCC, Archbishop Lerotholi cited hospitals and clinics that include St. Joseph’s Roma, Seboche and ‘Mamohau to mention a few, stating that in terms of education the now NUL started as RCC high school further saying that even at Ha ‘Manteko, Qacha’s Nek, training centre for teachers was also established by RCC.
Other hospitals include Scott hospital, Morija belonging to LECSA as well as St. James and Paray in the district of Thaba-Tseka belonging to the Anglican church.
Talking about the church in terms of building the economy, he said a Canadian RCC Priest in those days led in the introduction of cooperatives, mentioning that this has gone a long way in creating hundreds and hundreds of jobs today, thereby promoting economic growth.
The church has a role and a responsibility to offer spiritual and emotional support to christians with the aim to build the church of Christ.
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