Archbishop Brislin: Mandela saved nation from civil war

(Vatican Radio) South Africa Archbishop Stephen Brislin says Nelson Mandela’s remarkable qualities as a leader and as a man helped pull the country back from the brink of civil war. The President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ conference, Archbishop Brislin paid tribute and expressed his gratitude for the achievements of the nation’s former President who helped negotiate a transfer to multi-party democracy. He was speaking to Linda Bordoni.

Listen to the full interview with Archbishop Brislin:

Archbishop Brislin said he learned of Mandel’s death with “ a mixture of sadness and of relief” that his sufferings are over. Describing the remarkable achievements of the former leader, the Archbishop says South Africa owes a huge debt to Mandela: “If it wasn’t for Mandela, I don’t know what would have happened to this country because we were certainly on the brink of civil war.” (during the early 1990’s).

In Archbishop Brislin’s view, Mandela showed “great leadership” during that period because “he stood up to people, very angry” over the repression of apartheid rule, people “who didn’t see the point of a negotiated settlement…. and it must have taken enormous courage.”

The archbishop goes on to say that one of the “most remarkable things” about Mandela was that “he was never bitter” despite his long imprisonment and notes that history would have taken a very different turn if Mandela “ had allowed anger and hatred to rule his life.”