The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba, the Archbishop of Southern Africa, will be one of the contributors in this November’s webinar about the Lambeth Call on Reconciliation. Archbishop Thabo has a firm commitment to peace and reconciliation in his ministry, challenging social injustice, inequality, and racism. He is also an advocate for peace in the Holy Land.
Becoming archbishop in 2007, he assumed a role previously occupied by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. During Archbishop Thabo’s university years in the 1970s and 1980s, he was an engaged activist in the struggle against apartheid. Throughout his career in the Anglican Church, he has maintained a commitment to confronting racism, corruption, injustice, and inequality. He also had a pastoral relationship with Nelson Mandela in the final years of the activist’s life, which he wrote about in a book called: ‘Faith and Courage: Praying with Mandela’.
This week, Archbishop Thabo visited Rome, where he took part in an ‘International Meeting for Peace: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue‘, at the invitation of the Community of Sant’Egidio. Held at the Colosseum in Rome, he took part in a ‘Meditation for Peace’, which was presided over by Pope Leo XIV and gathered faith leaders from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Budhist, Hindu and other religious traditions.
During his time in Rome, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba was invited to address a forum about Africa and the future of young people, titled:Â Â ‘An Unequal World: What Alternatives?’ The speech addressed the crisis of inequality and youth unemployment, particularly in Africa, but also with reference to a global picture. The archbishop’s address explored the challenges of wealth becoming detached from justice and compassion. He called for people of faith to ensure resources serve the common good, saying:
‘Our crisis is not merely political or economic; it is spiritual. When wealth becomes detached from justice, it ceases to be a blessing and becomes a temptation. When power forgets compassion, it turns prosperity into oppression… The key questions we need to ask are not only for Africa, but for the world. How can our riches serve the common good? How can we ensure that the young inherit not debts and disillusionment but dignity and direction? We must transition from accumulation to allocation, from privilege to participation. This will not fall out of the sky, it has to be struggled for. We need to ensure that we use every pulpit and platform to instruct, to teach and to prioritise this quest for justice for the young.’
To hear more about Archbishop Thabo’s ministry in peace and reconciliation, register for this November’s webinar.Â