Joseph Gérard

Joseph Gérard, OMI (12 March 1831 – 29 May 1914) was a French Catholic priest and a professed member from the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; he worked in the missions among the Basotho people in Lesotho and the Free State province of South Africa. His works in the mission are now attributed to a partial degree to a boom in Catholicism in Lesotho, where he was well-known and regarded for his extensive work; he was even working up until a month prior to his own death just before World War I.

His beatification was celebrated in Lesotho on 15 September 1988.

Life Joseph Gérard was born in Bouxières-aux-Chênes on 12 March 1831 as the eldest of five children to Jean Gérard and Ursule Stofflet. He spent his childhood on his farm and had a religious upbringing. The beatification process commenced under Pope Pius XII on 1 March 1955 and he became titled as a Servant of God while the confirmation of his life of heroic virtue allowed for Pope Paul VI to name him as Venerable on 13 November 1976. The miracle required for his beatification was investigated and later received validation from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on 14 March 1986; a medical board approved it on 3 December 1986 as did theologians on 13 March 1987 and the C.C.S. members on 19 May 1987. Pope John Paul II approved this miracle on 1 June 1987 and beatified the late priest while on his visit to Lesotho on 15 September 1988.

The current postulator for this cause is the O.M.I. priest Thomas Klosterkamp.