30 Jan 2019

Bishop Emeritus Boniface Setlalekgosi will be buried tomorrow next to his predecessor Bishop Urban Murphy on Christ the King Cathedral grounds in a private ceremony.

Addressing the media on January 29, administrator of Gaborone Diocese and Bishop of Francistown, Bishop Frank Nubuasah said funeral arrangements had been completed and Bishop Setlalekgosi’s body would lie in state at the cathedral from 10 a.m. today.

“The public is encouraged to come pay their last respects from 10 a.m. until the following morning except when there is a service taking place. There will be a vigil mass in the evening at seven followed by all-night vigil or wake keeping,” he said.

Bishop Nubuasah explained that on Friday, there would be a funeral mass at the National Stadium before a private burial at the cathedral grounds.

He further explained that lack of space at the cathedral was the only reason a private session was considered.

According to catholic tradition, he said, a bishop was buried in the cathedral where he was the parish priest.

“If for any reason he cannot be buried inside, he is usually buried close to the building. Even in death he remains close to his people and continues to pray for them,” added Bishop Nubuasah.

He explained that Bishop Setlalekgosi had been battling congenital heart defect and succumbed on January 25 after being treated at the Gaborone Private Hospital.

Bishop Setlalekgosi, who been in and out of hospital in the last two months, had also received treatment from a specialist in South Africa as well as at Bokamoso Private Hospital. He was 91.

He was ordained a priest in 1963 in Francistown and was appointed bishop of Gaborone in December 1981 and ordained in March the following year. He retired in 2009. ENDS