LESOTHO

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Gerard Tlali LEROTHOLI, OMI, Archbishop of Maseru, Lesotho, as a member of the Vatican-based Pontifical Council for Culture.

Archbishop Gerard entered the Oblate novitiate in Quthing, Lesotho, in 1975. He studied philosophy at St. Augustine’s Major Seminary in Roma, Lesotho and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy. He earned his Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He made his perpetual vows in 1981 and was ordained a priest in 1982. On 30 June, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named him Archbishop of Mesuru. He received his episcopal consecration on 12 September from his predecessor, Archbishop Bernard MOHLALISI, OMI.

The Pontifical Council for Culture is a Dicastery of the Roman Curia charged with fostering the relationship of the Catholic Church with different cultures. Pope John Paul II founded it on 20 May, 1982, with the aim of establishing dialogue between the Church and the cultures of our time, so that they could open themselves up to the Christian faith. On 25 March, 1993, Pope John Paul II united the Pontifical Council for Culture to the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non-believers to establish a single organism. Finally, on 30 July, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI united it to the Council of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Goods of the Church. All of this is now represented by the name Pontifical Council for Culture.