Priest and Partisan
The South African Journey of Father Michael Lapsley
Michael Worsnip
Foreword by Nelson Mandela
In April 1990, Father Michael Lapsley SSM was the target of a letter bomb from South Africa, losing both hands and an eye.
Priest and Partisan describes how a deeply religious man grappled with his commitment to pacifism and his church in the face of what he came to recognize as one of the greatest crimes against humanity—the apartheid system.
Lapsley's membership of the African National Congress often brought him into conflict with the church hierarchy.
The book present the events and experiences that converted Michael Lapsley, an Anglican (Episcopalian) priest, into a freedom fighter in his adopted homeland of South Africa, and then how, as one more victim of apartheid's terror, he has become a healer and a voice for reconciliation in the post-apartheid era.
Michael Lapsley argues the apartheid regime and all who supported it "carry the responsibility for the loss of millions of lives throughout Southern Africa." But he himself refuses to accept victimhood: "I am no longer a victim, nor even simply a survivor. I am a victor over evil, hatred and death."
Michael Lapsley gave evidence about his case to the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in July 1996. He is now director for the Healing the Memories Institute in Cape Town.
Michael Worsnip is a prominent South African theologian. He fled South Africa as a war resister in 1979 and taught in Lesotho, where he joined the ANC and was ordained as an Anglican priest. He is author of several books, including Between the Two Fires: The Anglican Church and Apartheid 1948-57.
This book chronicles Lapsley’s career in southern Africa, the events surrounding his attempted assassination, his struggles with a non-too-supportive Church hierarchy, and the political theology of his decision to abandon pacifism.
—Choice
Michael Lapsley’s life is part of the tapestry of the many long journeys and struggles of our people.
—Nelson Mandela
Michael Lapsley is a wonderful advertisement for how to deal with a horrendous past, how to acknowledge it and how to heal it.
—Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Michael Worsnip’s book tells a personal story of a courageous man, devoted not only to God, but also to humanity. But it is a small part of the big drama, encompassing millions of people, forced from their land, persecuted, terrorized, tortured, killed… by the white man.
—Torture
