What Do We Do and Why Do We Do It.


Father Michael Lapsley was born in New Zealand and
ordained in Australia. In 1973 he went to South Africa as a young Anglican priest where he became chaplain to both black and white students at the very height of apartheid oppression. In 1976 he was elected National University Chaplain. That was the year of the Soweto uprising in which many black school children were shot and killed. Father Michael began using his public platform to speak out on behalf of students who had been shot, detained, and tortured, and shortly thereafter he was expelled from South Africa.
He spent the next 16 years as chaplain to the liberation movement in exile, travelling the world to mobilize particularly the faith community to oppose apartheid and support the struggle for freedom. While still in Zimbabwe in April 1990, 3 months after Nelson Mandela's release from prison, he was sent a letter bomb from South Africa disguised as religious literature. In the blast, he lost both hands, the sight of one eye, and was severely burned. Accompanied by the prayers, love, and support from around the world, he began his own journey from victim to survivor to victor.
That was the year of the Soweto uprising in which many black school children were shot and killed. Father Michael began using his public platform to speak out on behalf of students who had been shot, detained, and tortured, and shortly thereafter he was expelled from South Africa.
In 1993 after returning to South Africa, he became Chaplain of the Trauma Centre for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town. There he devised a Healing of Memories process that created safe spaces where any South African who wished could, in a collective setting, begin to work through the psychological, spiritual and emotional effects of the nation's past. In 1998, with increasing demands for this process nationally and internationally, he formed the Institute for Healing of Memories.
In addition to South Africa, the Institute now works with victims of war, violence, and genocide in places like Rwanda, Burundi, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, and East Timor. Recently the Institute has begun training the staff of an organization in East Harlem that operates a shelter for abused, disabled women. Father Michael’s own experience of inner healing has helped him connect with people in countless cultures who experience systemic violence and personal pain. He challenges individuals and communities to move through a journey of healing towards forgiveness and reconciliation.
Fr. Michael was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of KwaZulu Natal in recognition of his work on behalf of healing and reconciliation in South Africa and the world.

In1998 Fr. Lapsley worked for the Trauma Center for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town, which assisted the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, then started theInstitute for Healing of Memories (IHOM NA is the North American Component). He was the subject of the biographical work Priest and Partisan: A South African journey (1996) by his fellow South African priest andtheologian Michael Worsnip.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

HEAR FATHER MICHAEL LAPSLEY PREACH AT RIVERSIDE CHURCH 6/20/10

HEAR FATHER MICHAEL LAPSLEY PREACH AT RIVERSIDE CHURCH
SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2010 AT 10:45 A.M.
“FORGIVING AND FORGETTING”


Father Michael Lapsley is founder of the Institute for Healing of Memories, Cape Town, South
Africa, and the Institute for Healing of Memories-North America www.healingofmemories.za.co.

The Riverside Church
490 Riverside Drive
New York, New York 10027
212-870-6700
The Riverside Church is located on Riverside Drive and 120th Street near Columbia University
where Harlem and the Upper West Side meet. (120th Street is also named Reinhold Niebuhr
Place.) Father Michael Lapsley is founder of the Institute for Healing of Memories, Cape Town, South
Africa, and the Institute for Healing of Memories-North Americawww.healingofmemories.za.co
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