31 Jan 2019

President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has thanked the Setlalekgosi family for offering the nation a remarkable man in the late Reverend Bishop Emeritus Boniface Setlalekgosi.

During a condolence visit to the Setlalekgosi family at St Joseph’s College in Kgale January 31, Dr Masisi paid tribute to the late bishop describing him as an elegant man with a gentle smile.

He said Bishop Setlalekgosi was a nation builder whose manner of speech, delivery of words and thinking were beyond reproach.

“He was a man of speech and delivered his word diligently.

I have fond memories of him,” said Dr Masisi.

He noted that Bishop Setlalekgosi played a crucial role in many people’s lives even in retirement.

“I thought of coming here and paying my respect to the family and church. I thank the family for giving us an extraordinary human being,” he said.The family expressed appreciation for  the president’s visit with Ms Magdeline Gabatshwane, the last born of the four Setlalekgosi siblings and the only surviving member of the family thanking President Masisi for his good heart.

She said despite the sorrow of losing a loved one, they were grateful to God for his life.

Immediately after meeting the Setlalekgosi family, Dr Masisi joined hundreds of mourners who crammed inside the Christ the King Cathedral, where the bishop’s body lay in state,  to pay their last respects.

Addressing the mourners, Dr Masisi noted that the late bishop earned honours to be the first citizen bishop entirely on merit and according to the dictates of the Roman Catholic Church.

“I pay homage to a man I revered and have known for a long time.

In the religious sense he was a symbol of righteousness,” said Dr Masisi.

Dr Masisi spoke about the good seeds that the late bishop sowed, taught, talked about and lived.

“Though some of us may not be members of the Catholic Church we feel catholic at this moment.

This man was a master of Catholicism. One day, God willing he will be canonised. Come and sing your praises here when that day comes,” he said.

The bishop’s body lay in state the entire day yesterday and afterwards his brother bishops led a holy mass to kick-started the vigil prayers.

Bishop Setlalekgosi will be laid to rest today on the Christ the King Cathedral grounds following a requiem mass at the National Stadium.ENDS