interview<\/a> with the SACBC Communication Office on the day of his appointment on 14 April 2026.<\/p>\n\u201cI was very happy as a priest in Mthatha. Suddenly, I was being uprooted and sent to a place that I did not know. But I accepted it with openness and with hope that, by God\u2019s grace, things would go well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reflecting on becoming the first South African-born bishop of Bethlehem Diocese, Bishop Phomane described the appointment as another milestone in the growth of the local Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an important moment for the Church in Southern Africa,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are moving from being a missionary Church to becoming a fully established Church, where local clergy and local people increasingly take responsibility for the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
The appointment comes during the year in which the Catholic Church in Southern Africa commemorates the 75th anniversary of the establishment of its ecclesiastical hierarchy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows that the Church is growing,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Holy Father has confidence in the local Church and in local leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
A vocation shaped by sacrifice<\/p>\n
Behind Bishop Phomane\u2019s appointment lies a vocation forged through years of sacrifice, perseverance, and trust in God\u2019s providence.<\/p>\n
He began school only at the age of eleven. While still in high school, he first sensed the call to the priesthood after witnessing the pastoral needs of his home parish, which had gone several years without a resident priest.<\/p>\n
Yet family circumstances led him to set that dream aside. \u201cI wanted to work so that I could support my family financially,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
After matriculating, he held various jobs, such as security officer, labourer, and quality controller. Although professionally settled, he increasingly sensed that God was calling him elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt something was missing in my life,\u201d he said. \u201cWhenever I prayed and asked what I needed to do, the answer was always the same: \u2018You must become a priest.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Even after being accepted into seminary formation, he postponed entering because he remained the only member of his family with employment. The decisive turning point came during the annual Kevelaer Pilgrimage in 2003.<\/p>\n
Watching bishops and priests process into the celebration of the Eucharist, he found himself overcome with emotion. \u201cI cried,\u201d he remembered. \u201cI had such a deep desire to be among them as a priest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon afterwards, he resigned from his employment, completed his notice period and entered seminary formation in 2004\u2014a decision that would shape the rest of his life.<\/p>\n
Looking back today, he sees God\u2019s patient guidance through every stage of that journey.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Bishop-Phomane-300x262.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Formed for service<\/p>\n
Ordained to the priesthood in 2012 by Archbishop Sithembele Sipuka, then Bishop of Mthatha, Bishop Phomane continued to embrace lifelong formation, always seeking to respond to the needs of the local Church.<\/p>\n
After completing studies in Business Management, Archbishop Sipuka encouraged him to pursue Canon Law, recognising the Diocese of Mthatha\u2019s growing need for a qualified canon lawyer.<\/p>\n
Bishop Phomane obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi in 2018, before undertaking Honours studies in Translation Studies after recognising the need to make Church teaching and canonical texts accessible to Sesotho-speaking Catholics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need our people to have access to the teachings and judgments of the Church in their own language,\u201d he explained. \u201cAs the Church grows, we must also develop our own resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
His academic formation enabled him to serve in diocesan administration, ecclesiastical tribunals\u2014including the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Durban\u2014and the wider Church.<\/p>\n
He also became one of the leaders of the synodal process in the Diocese of Mthatha, helping to prepare the diocesan implementation plan and pastoral handbook following the Synod on Synodality.<\/p>\n
As he begins his ministry in Bethlehem, Bishop Phomane says his first task is to listen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not yet know the Diocese of Bethlehem,\u201d he said. \u201cI first want to understand the people, their reality, and their needs. Much good work has already been done by my predecessors, and I hope to continue building on those foundations.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Bishop-Phomane-ordination-225x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe completed the work he began\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the most moving moments of Bishop Phomane\u2019s episcopal journey was seeing Archbishop Sithembele Sipuka preside as the principal consecrator at his episcopal ordination on 4 July.<\/p>\n
For the newly ordained bishop, the moment carried profound personal significance.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the SACBC Communication Office on the day of his appointment, Bishop Phomane had expressed one heartfelt wish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thank Archbishop Sipuka,\u201d he said. \u201cHe ordained me to the priesthood, encouraged me to study Canon Law, and I hope that he will complete the work he began in me by being one of the bishops who ordains me to the episcopacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
That hope became a reality, as Archbishop Sipuka served as the principal consecrator at the episcopal ordination, a deeply symbolic moment linking the beginning of Bishop Phomane\u2019s priestly ministry with the beginning of his ministry as the fifth Bishop of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
The fulfilment of his wish to be ordained by the same bishop who first laid hands on him as a priest became a visible sign of the continuity of apostolic ministry and the enduring bond between shepherd and disciple.<\/p>\n
A ministry entrusted to God<\/p>\n
Despite his years of pastoral ministry, academic formation and diocesan leadership, Bishop Phomane insists that humility remains the foundation of his episcopal ministry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Church and the Holy Father have found me worthy,\u201d he reflected. \u201cBut I myself do not see that worthiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Entrusting his ministry entirely to God\u2019s providence, he appealed to the faithful of both the Diocese of Mthatha and the Diocese of Bethlehem to accompany him with their prayers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ask the people of Bethlehem, the people of Mthatha and all the faithful of the Church to pray for me,\u201d he said. \u201cWith God\u2019s grace, I believe that together we will fulfil the mission entrusted to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Echoing Archbishop Jagodzi\u0144ski\u2019s reflection, Bishop Phomane\u2019s journey\u2014from a young man who delayed his vocation to support his family, to a factory worker who answered God\u2019s persistent call, to a priest formed through study and pastoral service, and now the first South African-born Bishop of Bethlehem\u2014has become a living witness to a local Church that continues to bear lasting fruit, raising shepherds from among its own people for the service of the Gospel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The appointment and episcopal ordination of Bishop Motlatsi Meshack Phomane as the first South African-born bishop of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":["post-236809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}