Well-known South African Catholic priest, anti-apartheid activist and internationally renowned theologian and author Father Albert Nolan has died at the age of 88.

Born in Cape Town in 1934, Fr Albert Nolan entered the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church in 1954 and died peacefully in his sleep under the care of the Dominican Sisters at Marian House in Boksburg in the early hours of Monday, 17 October.

Awarded the Order of Luthuli in Silver by then president Thabo Mbeki in 2003 for his "lifelong dedication to the Struggle for democracy, human rights and justice and for challenging the religious 'dogma', especially the theological justification for apartheid", Nolan inspired a generation of Christian activists and theologians.

His dedication to the anti-apartheid struggle saw him decline the prestigious role of Master of the Dominican Order, to which he was elected in 1983, as it would have meant him being transferred to the Order's Rome headquarters. Instead, he convinced the Dominicans to allow him to remain in South Africa.

At the height of the second State of Emergency in 1986, he was forced into hiding to escape from the notorious South African Security Police. Nolan was particularly vulnerable to arrest for steering...