Beyers Naudé

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christiaan Frederik Beyers Naudé (1972)

Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé (born May 10, 1915 in Roodepoort , South Africa ; † September 7, 2004 in Johannesburg ; Beyers Naudé for short ) was a South African theologian and opponent of apartheid .

Life

Beyers Naudé was named after the Boer general Christiaan Frederick Beyers. He grew up with his seven siblings in Roodepoort near Johannesburg. His father Jozua Francois Naudé was a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church , a founding member of the racist African Broederbond and later interim president of the Republic of South Africa.

Beyers Naudé studied theology and in 1940 joined the African Broederbond as the youngest member. In 1940 he married Ilse Weder, the daughter of the Moravian missionary Emil Weder, in Genadendal . He quickly made a career in the Dutch Reformed Church. The 1960 Sharpeville massacre , in which 69 demonstrators were shot by the South African police , plunged Beyers Naudé into a crisis of faith. In 1961 he became a leading member of the Synod of the South Transvaal . In the same year he signed the declaration of the World Council of Churches in which racial segregation was denied any theological basis. In the following years Beyers Naudé developed into a strict opponent of the racial segregation policy in South Africa. He came into conflict with the Broederbund and the Dutch Reformed Church.

In 1963 he took over the management of the ecumenical institution of the multiracial Christian Institute of Southern Africa , resigned from the Broederbund and became a member of the Black Reformed Church . As a result, Beyers Naudé was tried twice for violating apartheid laws and, from 1977 to 1985, was the first white man to be banned by the government of South Africa . During this time he was not allowed to attend church or public events. He was not allowed to leave Johannesburg and only receive one guest at a time.

After the ban was lifted, Beyers Naudé succeeded Desmond Tutu as general secretary of the South African Council of Churches (1984–1987). During negotiations with the government of Frederik Willem de Klerk , Beyers Naudé was a member of the delegation of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1990 .

Beyers Naudé spent the last years of his life in a wheelchair. In 2000 he returned to the Dutch Reformed Church and was involved in the organization Transparency International against corruption .

Beyers Naudé died in 2004. His ashes were scattered in the Alexandra district of Johannesburg near the church building of the Black Reformed Church. Ilse Naudé died in December 2011.

Honors

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ ANC page on Naudé ( Memento from June 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on August 13, 2012
  2. ↑ SACC website ( Memento from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  3. ↑ Office of the Federal President
personal data
SURNAME Naudé, Beyers
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Naudé, Christiaan Frederick Beyers (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION white South African theologian and opponent of apartheid
DATE OF BIRTH May 10, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Roodepoort , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH September 7, 2004
Place of death Johannesburg