Bishop Xolelo Thaddaeus Kumalo

Xolelo Thaddaeus Kumalo was born on July 2, 1954, in Gogela, in the Diocese of Kokstad. He completed his secondary education at St. Paul’s Minor Seminary in Hammanskraal. In 1976, he entered the Franciscan Order as a postulant, and in 1979, he began his novitiate in Besters. After a year of philosophical studies at the Franciscan Study Centre in Wingate Park, he left the Order of his own accord and was admitted by the Bishop of Witbank to St. John Vianney National Seminary (affiliated with the Pontifical Urban University) to continue his studies. In 1985, he was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Witbank. After working for a few years as a clerk in a steel factory, he was welcomed into the Diocese of Bethlehem by its bishop. While a deacon, he was sent to study at Boston College in the United States, where he earned a Master’s degree in Pastoral Theology. Upon returning home, he was ordained a priest on October 10, 1991, and incardinated into the Diocese of Bethlehem. Following his ordination, he held the following positions: 1991–1993: Parochial Vicar of Clocolan and Phuthaditjhaba, becoming Parish Priest in 1993; 1994–1995: Episcopal Vicar for Catechists; 1996–1999: Parish Priest and Head of the St. John Paul II Formation Centre; 2000–2006: Vicar General of the Diocese of Bethlehem. Since 2007, he has served as the Diocesan Treasurer (Economo) for the Diocese of Bethlehem.