Father Lapsley will share his stories of fighting for racial justice and his work with Healing Memories Institute.
Survivor of Apartheid Era Letter Bomb and Founder of Healing of Memories Father Michael Lapsley was born in 1949 in New Zealand. Today he considers himself a citizen of the world. He served on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Nelson Mandela and later founded the Healing of Memories Institute.
He moved to South Africa in 1973 to continue his training as a priest in the Anglican Church. In 1976 he was sent into exile by the apartheid government. After joining the African National Congress, he traveled the world mobilizing faith communities against apartheid and ministering to South Africans living in exile.
Three months after the release of Nelson Mandela, Lapsley received a letter bomb hidden inside two religious magazines. The blast resulted in severe burns and him losing both hands and the sight in one eye.
Several years later, Lapsley served on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Nelson Mandela.
He later founded the Healing of Memories Institute; he has traveled the world helping communities work through traumatic experiences, including New York following 9/11.