Archbishop Zolile Mpambani: Church as the Wounded Healer

by Admin · Published August 17, 2022 · Updated August 17, 2022

The clergy of the Archdiocese of Bloemfontein at a healing of memories workshop

The SACBC Justice and Peace Commission and the Institute for the Healing of Memories organised a healing of memories workshop for priests in the Archdiocese of Bloemfontein.

The workshop was facilitated by Father Michael Lapsley, an Anglican priest and anti-apartheid activist who in 1990 lost both hands and an eye in a letter bomb attack sponsored by the South African Secret Services.

Sharing his experience with the priests, Father Lapsley explained that “quite early on after the bomb I realised that if I was filled with hatred and desire for revenge, I would be a victim forever. I, therefore, decided to travel in my life from being a victim to survivor, to victor. Many people fail to travel further than this. To become a victor is to move from being an object of history to becoming a subject once more. That is not to say that I will not always grieve what I have lost, because I will permanently bear the marks of disfigurement.”

During the workshop, Archbishop Zolile Mpambani of Bloemfontein reminded the participants of the importance of receiving God’s healing in their lives so that they themselves become wounded healers.

Healing of our hurtful past is a journey that we undertake through Christ’s grace and the workshop on the healing of memories should serve as one of the steps in such a journey, he said The archbishop encouraged participants to work together to discern additional steps after the workshop through which individual and collective healing can continue to take place.

Reflecting on the workshops, Father Stan Muyebe, director of SACBC Justice and Peace Commission, pointed out that “the involvement of SACBC Justice and Peace in the healing of memories project is based on the realisation that the healing of memories project is a continuation of the work of the 1995-1996 Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”

Fr Muyebe noted that during the TRC, close to 23000 people were able to tell their stories of the painful impact of apartheid on their lives and families. He said at that time, however, South Africa was a country of 55 million people, and the healing of memories project arose from the realisation that not everybody will have a chance to tell their stories through the TRC. “There was, therefore, a need to create an alternative platform that ensures the continuation of storytelling, healing and reconciliation decades after apartheid,” added Fr Muyebe. “As Church, we have partnered with the institute of the healing of memories to help the country to work on its healing and reconciliation through storytelling. The healing that the country needs is not only from the painful legacy of apartheid, “It is also from the painful legacy of broken promises and failure in leadership in the two decades of constitutional democracy. It is also from the experience of loss and grief linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“There is therefore a sense in which South Africa is struggling with both the unhealed wounds from apartheid and the new wounds from the Covid-19 pandemic. These unhealed wounds are being exploited by populist politicians to deepen polarisation, fear, hatred and violence. In midst of all this, the Gospel invites us to bring the message of hope, the message of God’s mercy, healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness of our sins,” Fr Muyebe said.

During the workshop, Father Michael explained the power of storytelling: “Every story needs a listener – all of us have a story to tell so that we can be healed emotionally and spiritually.” Fr Lapsley said one of the greatest struggles in life is to get stories recognised and to get people’s pain acknowledged.

Participants had an opportunity to share with one another their stories of hurtful past and the process of moving from being a victim to victor and from self-destructive memories to life-giving memories.

In 2021, similar workshops were conducted with priests in the dioceses of Aliwal North, Kimberely and Mariannhill. The workshops on healing of memories are undertaken against the backdrop of the SACBC Pastoral plan, particularly its affirmation of healing and reconciliation as an integral part of evangelisation in Southern Africa. The workshops underline that evangelisation as participation in the healing and reconciling mission of Christ necessitates the on-going formation of priests as wounded healers. It necessitates the positioning of the Church as the wounded healer – what Pope Francis calls the Church as a field hospital after battle.

Full report: SACBC