NAMES IN THE NEWS : Mandela Thanks U.S. Clergymen
NEW YORK — Nelson Mandela opened the second day of his 10-day U.S. visit today by thanking American religious leaders--some of his staunchest allies in the anti-apartheid movement--and accepting $200,000 from them for the South African struggle.
Mandela, accompanied by his wife, Winnie, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and Mayor David N. Dinkins, met with more than 100 Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim leaders in a brief ceremony in Christ Chapel at famed Riverside Church before attending an ecumenical religious service in the church’s primary sanctuary.
A hush fell over the small gathering as the Mandela entourage arrived. As the patrician, 71-year-old Mandela made his way down the aisle of the side chapel, they rose and applauded.
Many of them reached out to shake his hand or that of Jackson as they made their way to the front of the chapel.
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