During the 27 years while Nelson Mandela was in prison in South Africa for opposing apartheid, "The Christian Science Monitor" was one of the newspapers he was allowed to read. Five months after his release, Mandela visited Boston and stopped by the "Monitor" offices, telling the staff "The "Monitor" continues to give me hope and confidence for the world's future," and thanking them for their "unwavering coverage of apartheid." He called the "Monitor" "one of the more important voices covering events in South Africa."