1 Bullet holes in the stained glass windows and 'Viva ANC' scratched into the battered pews tell the story of the Regina Mundi Catholic Church.
2 In a township synonymous with the anti-apartheid struggle, the 33-year-old church served as a home for protest and prayer. Countless rallies and political funerals were held in it, inevitably followed by police raids and rioting.
3 That chapter over, Sowetans say it is time to repair the damage etched by years of conflict.
4 'It's a landmark for anyone, Catholic or not Catholic, Christian or not Christian, religious or not religious,' said the Rev. Mohlomi Makobane, who has launched a campaign to raise nearly 1 million rand (dlrs 283,000) for renovations.
5 The parish's more than 1,000 families are setting aside money for repairs, and local businesses and newspapers have pledged donations. Musicians are planning several benefit concerts.
6 Regina Mundi's name echoes in the hearts of many black South Africans with the same resonance Martin Luther King Jr.'s Ebenezer Baptist Church holds for American civil rights activists.
7 'That church is the symbol of the liberation struggle,' said Peter Magubane, a photojournalist who has chronicled politics in Soweto for decades. 'If we didn't have a venue of that type, I don't think we would have had the changes we've had.'
8 Apartheid ended with South Africa's first all-race election last year. Many of the people who once spoke at Regina Mundi as political dissidents, including Winnie Mandela and Albertina Sisulu, now serve in the country's first black-led government.
9 Visitors from other faiths -- Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Dutch Reformed Church cleric Allan Boesak -- and other countries -- American civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson and U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown -- also have used the church's platform.
10 Minky Manthanjane, a member of a politically prominent Soweto family, said she never misses the annual June 16 rally at Regina Mundi commemorating the start of the Soweto Uprising of 1976.
11 On that day, police opened fire on black schoolchildren protesting being taught in Afrikaans, the language of the white rulers. Rioting spread throughout the country and galvanized the anti-apartheid movement.
12 Commemorations at Regina Mundi began in 1977 and quickly became the focal point of the day.
13 'On June 16, everybody knows you must go to Regina Mundi (even though) at the end of the day, you were going to get tear gassed and beaten. And police smashed the place -- chairs, windows,' Manthanjane said.
14 Funerals at Regina Mundi also attracted police. Manthanjane recalled leaving a service for a fellow activist in 1979 and being detained with all the other mourners.
15 In 1989, Regina Mundi was host to a euphoric welcome rally for the first group of prominent African National Congress leaders released from prison as the white government prepared to negotiate the end of apartheid.
16 Apartheid authorities used to bar activists from gathering at stadiums and schools, but never tampered with the churches because they professed to be a Christian government, said Makobane, the priest.
17 'Only the churches were places where people could gather and talk and express their anger,' he said. 'The church was a home where they could run for cover to express themselves.'
18 As many as 5,000 people can squeeze into Regina Mundi, a brick structure with a roof shaped like the hands of a child playing 'this is the church, this is the steeple.'
19 Bullet holes pock the windows and the roof, allowing rain to seep in and stain the high ceilings. Pews have been scarred by tear gas canisters and graffiti.
20 Makobane said Regina Mundi must continue its role, even though the government has changed.
21 'The church shall have always to help the oppressed, no matter what the government,' he said. 'The church is the conscience of whatever government is in power.'

" It ' s a landmark for anyone , Catholic or not Catholic , Christian or not Christian , religious or not religious , " said the Rev . Mohlomi Makobane , who has launched a campaign to raise nearly 1 million rand ( dlrs 283 , 000 ) for renovations .
landmark
What makes it a landmark?