Gain insights on healing and spirituality from a world-renowned social justice advocate.
Tuesday, April 21, 6 - 8pm
"Michael's life represents a compelling metaphor ... a foreigner who came to our country and was transformed.... (His) life is part of the tapestry of the many long journeys and struggles of our people." - Nelson Mandela
Don't miss this rare opportunity to gain inspiration and insights from Father Michael Lapsley, SSM (Society of the Sacred Mission), a South African Anglican priest and social justice activist who lost his hands and one eye when he opened a letter bomb in 1990. Lapsley has worked across the world to help build healing and empowerment for prisoners, war veterans, and those affected by political violence.
In September 1976, he was expelled from the country. He went to live in Lesotho, where he continued his studies and became a member of the African National Congress and a chaplain to the organization in exile. During this period he travelled the world, mobilizing faith communities to oppose apartheid and to support the liberation struggle.
After a police raid in Maseru in 1982 in which 42 people were killed, he moved to Zimbabwe. It was here that in 1990, three months after African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela's release from prison, he was sent a letter bomb by the Civil Cooperation Bureau, a covert outfit of the apartheid security forces. It was hidden inside two religious magazines. He lost both hands and the sight in one eye in the blast, and was seriously injured.
On his return to South Africa in 1992, he helped to start the association Friends of Cuba, and later became its first National President. He was awarded the Cuban Friendship Medal by the Cuban Council of State.
In 1993, he became Chaplain of the Trauma Centre for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town, which assisted the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This work led to the establishment, in 1998, of the Institute for Healing of Memories (IHOM) in Cape Town, in which Lapsley currently serves as the Director. The IHOM aims to allow many more South Africans to tell their stories in workshops where they work through their trauma. The organization now works with those affected by political violence; those affected and infected by HIV and AIDS; refugees and asylum seekers; prisoners and war veterans. The IHOM is also represented in the USA.
Lapsley is a graduate of the Australian College of Theology, the National University of Lesotho and the University of Zimbabwe. He has honorary doctorates from the Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and Liverpool Hope University in the United Kingdom. He has been awarded the Queen's Service Medal by the Government of New Zealand for service to Southern African communities. He is also Honorary Consul for New Zealand in Cape Town. Lapsley has been the subject of numerous biographical works and has served as a keynote speaker at many international conferences on healing and hope.