Father Michael Lapsley, an Anglican priest and anti-apartheid activist, has been awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in Japan.
The Niwano Peace Foundation said the award was in recognition of “his relentless struggle against apartheid and other forms of social discrimination and peace-building activities in other parts of the world”.
Lapsley was exiled by the apartheid government in 1976, after which he joined the ANC in Zimbabwe. He lost his hands and one eye when a letter bomb hidden by apartheid agents among religious magazines exploded in his face in 1990. He returned to SA in 1992 and since then has focused on projects including the Forgiveness Project and the Institute for Healing of Memories.
In a Sunday Times report in 2015, he said he believed SA needed “"a new national conversation with a new language in which we can speak and listen to one another’s pain”.
Lapsley has also worked with US war veterans, especially those who have become homeless, on the healing of memories.
International peace award for Father Michael Lapsley
Image: Mark Wessels
Father Michael Lapsley, an Anglican priest and anti-apartheid activist, has been awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in Japan.
The Niwano Peace Foundation said the award was in recognition of “his relentless struggle against apartheid and other forms of social discrimination and peace-building activities in other parts of the world”.
Lapsley was exiled by the apartheid government in 1976, after which he joined the ANC in Zimbabwe. He lost his hands and one eye when a letter bomb hidden by apartheid agents among religious magazines exploded in his face in 1990. He returned to SA in 1992 and since then has focused on projects including the Forgiveness Project and the Institute for Healing of Memories.
In a Sunday Times report in 2015, he said he believed SA needed “"a new national conversation with a new language in which we can speak and listen to one another’s pain”.
Lapsley has also worked with US war veterans, especially those who have become homeless, on the healing of memories.
The Niwano Peace Foundation said an award presentation ceremony will take place in Tokyo on June 14. In addition to an award certificate, Lapsley will receive a medal and cash prize of 20-million yen (about R2.6m).
Born in 1949 in New Zealand, Lapsley was ordained to priesthood in Australia in 1973. His religious conviction led him to work as a chaplain in SA at the height of apartheid.
In selecting Lapsley as a recipient for 2022, the Niwano team said despite the letter bomb attack he “did not become bitter”.
“Rather he set about working on healing and reconciliation. He saw damage and has strived to heal it.”
TimesLIVE
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