Archbishop Tutu on reconciliation

by Kim Shippey

In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been at work for sixteen months. It has been hearing grievances from those who suffered during the apartheid era, in the hope of burying past bitterness and helping individuals on both sides to make a fresh start. The Commission is expected to end its work in December.

The chairman of the Commission, Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, recently took exception to the appellation monsters to describe perpetrators of apartheid. In an article published in the April 16 edition of a KwaZuluNatal daily newspaper, The Mercury, he affirmed his belief that theology should be taken far more seriously in public life than is often the case, because theology has a remarkable relevance for practical politics.

Here are excerpts from the bishop's article, reprinted with the permission of The Mercury:

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