Father Elias Ramagashanya Ledwaba has been appointed as part-time Vice Rector of St. Patrick’s Basilica by the Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall in Canada. Fr Ledwaba is not entirely new to Saint Patrick’s, as he has provided ministry to the community over the past two years while studying at St Paul University.
Fr Eliaster was born on 23 January, 1985, in a rural area of Bergzicht in Ga-Maraba west of Polokwane, Limpopo. He is the youngest in a family of five, with three brothers and a sister.
Upon completing his secondary school education he felt the urge to respond to the call of priesthood and joined the seminary in 2002. He was ordained a priest for the Catholic diocese of Polokwane on 16 December, 2010, by the late Bishop Emeritus Mogale Nkhumishe at the age of 35.
Since then, he has worked in various parishes as a parochial priest and parish priest respectively, and in the diocesan positions of judicial vicar, chancellor and college of consulters, among others. In 2016, he furthered his studies in the discipline of canon law and he holds a Licentiate Degree (JCL) in Canon Law from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya which is aggregated to the Faculty of Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Urbaniana in Rome. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in the same in the same field from St Paul University, Canada.
In December 2020, amid the Covid -19 pandemic he celebrated his 10th-year priestly anniversary combined with a graduation ceremony of a Licentiate degree in Canon Law. It was during this celebration that the shepherd of the diocese of Polokwane Bishop Jeremiah Masela encouraged him to study towards his doctorate degree. He served as the judicial vicar of the diocese of Polokwane with more interest in family ministry and tribunal affairs.
In his leisure time Fr Ledwaba enjoys reading, cycling, hiking and listening to jazz music, he’s also a good soccer player!
