Look Who it Was Random video

Apartheid Regime Bomb Victim Father Michael Lapsley on Using Forgiveness to Heal From Tragedy

2,340 views · Published 22 April 2013 · 11:30 · Indexed 23 October 2026

Channel: Democracy Now! · 2013 · News & Politics

Watch on YouTube

http://www.democracynow.org - Father Michael Lapsley is a former South African anti-apartheid activist who has turned his personal tragedy into a clarion call for peace and forgiveness. In 1990, three months after the release of Nelson Mandela, the ruling De Klerk Government sent Father Lapsley a parcel containing two religious magazines. Inside one of them was a highly sophisticated bomb. When Lapsley opened the magazine, the explosion blew off both of his hands, destroyed one eye and burned him severely. Father Lapsley went on to work at the Trauma Center for Victims of Violence and Torture in Cape Town, South Africa, which assisted the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Father Lapsley joins us to discuss his journey and his thoughts on how Boston can begin to heal from last week's bombings. "The journey of healing is to move from being a victim to a survivor to a victor, to take back agency," he says. "I realized that if I was filled with hatred and bitterness and desire for revenge, they would have failed to kill the body, but they would have killed the soul."


Democracy Now!, is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on 1,100+ TV and radio stations Monday through Friday.

FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/democracynow
Twitter: @democracynow
Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/democracynow
Listen on SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/democracynow  
Daily Email News Digest: http://www.democracynow.org/subscribe

Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today, visit http://www.democracynow.org/donate/YT

More from this channel