- Joseph Gérard
Infobox Saint
name=Blessed Joseph Gérard
birth_date=March 12 ,1831
death_date=May 29 ,1914
feast_day=May 29
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
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beatified_date=September 15 ,1988
beatified_place=
beatified_by=John Paul II
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issues=Blessed Joseph Gérard, OMI (
March 12 ,1831 -May 29 ,1914 ) was a French Catholic missionary who chiefly worked among theBasotho people of modern dayLesotho and theFree State province ofSouth Africa . He was born inBouxières-aux-Chênes , in theDiocese of Nancy and received his religious training from theMissionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate , whom he joined at the age of twenty. He wasn't particularly gifted academically, but was quick at learning languages, which would later help him in learning the Zulu and Sesotho languages he used for his missionary work. Gérard moved toSouth Africa in 1853, and never returned to his home country again.cite web| url=http://www.omi.org.za/lesotho/bgerard07.html| title=Father Joseph Gerard, the Apostle of Basotho| work=OMI Lesotho| accessdate=2008-04-12]Missionary work
Gérard was ordained as a priest at
Pietermaritzburg in 1854. He started his work as a missionary among theZulu s in theVicariate of Natal , but met with little progress there. In 1862 he joined FatherFrançois Allard , the Bishop of Natal, in starting the first Catholic mission in Lesotho—there already was a Protestant congregation founded by theParis Evangelical Missionary Society . [cite book| title=Christianity in South Africa: A Political, Social, and Cultural History| author=Richard Elphick, T. R. H. Davenport| |publisher=New Africa Books| year=1997| isbn=0864863063| pages=p. 115] With permission from the Basotho chiefMoshoeshoe I , they founded the "Motse-oa-'M'a-Jesu" (Village of the Mother of Jesus) mission around 32 kilometers (20 miles) south ofThaba Bosiu , at the site of present day Roma. [Elphick, Davenport 1997, p. 115, 198] By all accounts, Gérard was well-respected by Moshoeshoe for remaining in the country during theFree State-Basotho War s, and it has been said that it was at Gérard's encouragement that the chief sought British intervention at the end of the conflict. However, Gérard's missionary work still progressed slowly: by the end of 1879, there were only 700 Catholics in the country. [Elphick, Davenport 1997, p. 116]In 1875, Gérard founded the St. Monica mission in the
Leribe District in northern Lesotho. From there, he serviced not only the Basotho of Lesotho, but also those who lived in the neighboringOrange Free State . He returned to the Roma congregation in 1898, where he continued his work as a missionary for the rest of his life. He died onMay 29 ,1914 , aged 83. As a result of the work partially initiated by Gérard, Catholic Christianity is the majority religion in present day Lesotho.Beatification
Gérard was beatified by
Pope John Paul II onSeptember 15 ,1988 , in a mass conducted at Lesotho's capitalMaseru . [cite web| url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/1988/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19880915_maseru_en.html| title=Beatification of father Joseph Gerard| work=Libreria Editrice Vaticana| date=1988-09-15| accessdate=2008-04-12] His feast day, celebrated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, is onMay 29 .References
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