10/08/2026
Annual Festival “Youth Category “- last participation for choristers born on or before 1990
In the Catholic Church, a youth is generally understood as a young person below the ages of 35 who is called to grow in faith, participate actively in the life of the Church, and witness to Christ in society. The Association of Choirs thus reserves the Category of Youth for people who have not attained their 36th birthday and thus this was the last year of choristers who ushered in the decade of the 90s.
Life during the 1990s, it was a very special time in the life of the Church of Catholic Diocese Of Gaborone &Diocese of Francistown. Bishop Setlalekgosi was on his 8th year as Bishop of Gaborone, the sole Diocese in the Country.
It was a time of the arrival of Major Sodalities such as CLC , Immaculate Conception and Sacred heart. catechism classes, youth groups primarily Chiro youth Movement took root and dominance . It was also a time during the decade, the Music Festival of Choirs was introduced.
The 1990s were also the years of Pope John Paul II’s strong emphasis on young people and their place in the life of the Church.
1991 – World Youth Day, Czestochowa, Poland
1992 – Publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1993 – World Youth Day, Denver, USA
1994 – First Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops
1994 – International Year of the Family
1995 – World Youth Day, Manila, Philippines
1995 – Evangelium Vitae on the dignity and inviolability of human life
1997 – World Youth Day, Paris, France
1998 – Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Cuba
1999 – Catholic–Lutheran Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
1999 – Preparation for the Great Jubilee of 2000
And perhaps most importantly, many of the friendships and vocations that began in those years have continued to shape the Church in Botswana to this day.
If you were a Catholic youth in Botswana in the 1990s, what do you remember?
