Lesotho’s Eminent St Augustine’s Major Seminary Marks Centennial Year with Celebration Events

by Daluxolo Moloantoa · Published June 4, 2024 · Updated June 3, 2024

This year marks two highly important moments in Lesotho’s history. It is the land-locked Southern African nation’s bi-centenary, two hundred years in which the country’s Catholic heritage and contribution to its development take centre stage. It is also a year during which the country’s Catholics mark the centennial existence of St Augustine’s Major Seminary, the nation’s most significant seminary.

Founded in 1924, the seminary is situated in Roma, a university town lying 40 kilometres south of the nation’s capital Maseru.

Roma was founded by Catholic missionaries in 1862, and it is laid out in a valley known as Tloutle. Valley. It has three seminaries, including the St Augustine’s Major Seminary and various novitiates. It is these institutions of the Church which formed the foundation of the National University of Lesotho. Roma is now considered the educational and spiritual heart of Lesotho.

Cardinal Sebastian Koto Khoarai, Lesotho’s first cardinal

St Augustine’s Major Seminary is the alma mater to many church leaders across Southern Africa. It has produced eminent people including a cardinal, bishops, priests, religious sisters and lay leaders. Among the seminary’s most well-known former students is the late Cardinal Sebastian Koto Khoarai, Lesotho’s first cardinal who passed on in 2021.

In the late 1960s, erstwhile South African prelate Bishop Peter Buthelezi OMI taught sacred Scripture at the seminary and was later appointed as its rector.

“It is no wonder that this year is fully charged with activities of celebrations. The focus of the celebrations of St Augustine’s Major Seminary is to showcase the pivotal role played by the institution in the formation and training of church leaders in Southern Africa. Very significantly to point out, the St Augustine’s Major Seminary is the one and the only institution of the Catholic Church in Lesotho which is fully run and funded by the Church, without any subsidy from the government,” Archbishop Tladi Lerotholi of Maseru told The Southern Cross. Archbishop Lerotholi is himself an alumnus of the seminary, who later returned to serve as a seminary professor and chaplain of the National University of Lesotho.

Among the major events to take place to mark the seminary`s centennial year is an event in August, which is a month in which the feast day of St Augustine is celebrated. “On August 31 there will be the conferment of minor ministries to eligible seminarians and the ordination of deacons at the seminary. It is expected that all bishops of Lesotho will grace the occasion”, the archbishop said.

Archbishop Tladi Lerotholi of Maseru with seminarians

A music festival dubbed His Cross, Our Victory Music Festival is set to take place on 14 September. The festival will feature the well-known Catholic choir MaCecilia A St Paul from Lesotho and gospel singer Khethang Konese from South Africa among many other music artists.

The crowning event of the celebrations will be on 23 November, with the occasion of priestly ordinations. “It is expected that the seminary`s alumni, bishops, priests, nuns and lay people from within and outside the country will attend the event. The focus of that day will showcase St Augustine’s Major Seminary as an institution which has stood the test of time and history as a place of formation and training. An institution which has remained true to its mission and mandate for a hundred years,” the archbishop said.

For further updates on the St Augustine’s Major Seminary centenary celebrations follow the seminary’s social media page on Facebook.