Parties and prayers: world celebrates Mandela

South Africa‘s day of prayer for its former leader saw celebrations across the country and other in cities across the world. The parties and celebrations continued in Johannesburg, although the morning was quieter in Qunu, Nelson Mandela’s hometown.

Mandela’s funeral will be held on Saturday 15 December and is expected to be one of the biggest global commemorations of a statesman in many years.

The Queen cannot attend, but world figures including the Pope, President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama are expected to attend, along with Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and world leaders from all corners of the globe.

Read more: all of the Channel 4 News coverage of Nelson Mandela

Many across the UK and Ireland hope to attend too: Martin McGuinness, deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, will go, as will the Irish supermarket workers who went on strike over South African goods resulting – after three years – in the Irish government banning imports from apartheid South Africa.

President Obama gave thanks for Nelson Mandela as he lit up the White House Christmas tree last night.

In the UK, tributes continued to pour in for the leader. People put flowers around his statue in London, Glasgow and other cities across the UK. A public book of condolences in Westminster Abbey had queues of people waiting to leave their respects.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby told a congregation in London’s Trafalgar Square that the 95-year-old was the “rarest of leaders”.

“Great injustice is overcome only by great courage. Evil can never be placated, it must be defeated: that means struggle, and struggles demand courage.

He was that rarest of leaders, those who learn from terrible events…rather than being shaped by them into bitterness and hatred. Archbishop Justin Welby

“Nelson Mandela showed his courage by his determination in the face of evil and by his humanity in the experience of victory. What is more, such courage and humanity were learned and demonstrated in the mists of conflict and suffering. He was that rarest of leaders, those who learn from terrible events so as to exhaust all their lessons, rather than being shaped by them into bitterness and hatred.”

He added: “Not everyone responds to such treatment with resistance. Many of us would have kept our heads down, made what we could of life, looked after those close to us, and closed our eyes to what was happening. We would have said to ourselves, ‘Life is tough enough, do not make it worse by swimming against the tide’.

“But Mandela had courage that showed itself in leadership. He stood out, resisted, and fought. He faced the insult of being labelled a terrorist for fighting for his own people, the absurdity of trial for treason against an utterly wicked regime.”

Celebrating Mandela: the week ahead
Sunday 8 December: South Africa celebrates a day of prayer for Nelson Mandela with services held all over the country.
Tuesday 10 December: A memorial service for Mandela will be held in the 95,000-capacity Johannesburg stadium. US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend.
Wednesday 11 - Friday 13 December: Mandela's body will lie in state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa's capital, during the day. Residents have been asked to line the streets as his coffin processes to and from the Pretoria military hospital where it will be held overnight.
Saturday 15 December: Mandela will have a state funeral, and then be taken for burial to Qunu, the village where he spent his childhood.