Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBT rights and retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has died, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday. He was 90.
An uncompromising foe of apartheid — South Africa’s brutal regime of oppression against the Black majority — Tutu worked tirelessly, though non-violently, for its downfall.
The buoyant, blunt-spoken clergyman used his pulpit as the first Black bishop of Johannesburg and later Archbishop of Cape Town, as well as frequent public demonstrations to galvanize public opinion against racial inequity both at home and globally.
Tutu’s death on Sunday “is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.
“From the pavements of resistance in South Africa to the pulpits of the world’s great cathedrals and places of worship, and the prestigious setting of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Arch distinguished himself as a non-sectarian, inclusive champion of universal human rights.”
Tutu died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Center in Cape Town, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Trust said in a statement on Sunday.Tutu had been hospitalized several times since 2015, after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997.In recent years he and his wife, Leah, lived in a retirement community outside Cape Town.
The people’s archbishop’Throughout the 1980s — when South Africa was gripped by anti-apartheid violence and a state of emergency giving police and the military sweeping powers — Tutu was one of the most prominent Black residents able to speak out against abuses.A lively wit lightened Tutu’s hard-hitting messages and warmed otherwise grim protests, funerals and marches. Short, plucky, tenacious, he was a formidable force, and apartheid leaders learned not to discount his canny talent for quoting apt scriptures to harness righteous support for change.
The Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 highlighted his stature as one of the world’s most effective champions for human rights, a responsibility he took seriously for the rest of his life.With the end of apartheid and South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, Tutu celebrated the country’s multi-racial society, calling it a “rainbow nation,” a phrase that captured the heady optimism of the moment.' x='0' y='0' height='100%25' width='100%25' xlink%3Ahref='data%3Aimage/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wBDABALDA4MChAODQ4SERATGCgaGBYWGDEjJR0oOjM9PDkzODdASFxOQERXRTc4UG1RV19iZ2hnPk1xeXBkeFxlZ2P/2wBDARESEhgVGC8aGi9jQjhCY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2P/wAARCAAGAAkDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME/8QAIRAAAQIEBwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgADAQQFERUxQVKRkuH/xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAv/EABkRAAIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAAMhEf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8AnSK69Oyr0m4Ri+BXF0Y5wvrwt2Lvbo9fURSqKe5Cx2Bwz//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Former South African president Nelson Mandela reacts with Tutu in Johannesburg in 2008. Upon becoming president in 1994, Mandela appointed Tutu to be chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which uncovered the abuses of the apartheid system. (Themba Hadebe/The Associated Press)Nicknamed “the Arch,” Tutu was diminutive, with an impish sense of humour, but he became a towering figure in his nation’s history — comparable to fellow Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, a prisoner during white rule who became South Africa’s first Black president. Tutu and Mandela shared a commitment to building a better, more equal South Africa.
In 1990, after 27 years in prison, Mandela spent his first night of freedom at Tutu’s residence in Cape Town. Later, Mandela called Tutu “the people’s archbishop.”
Upon becoming president in 1994, Mandela appointed Tutu to be chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which uncovered the abuses of the apartheid system.
Advocated for LGBT rights
Tutu campaigned internationally for human rights, especially LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.
“I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this,” he said in 2013, launching a campaign for LGBT rights in Cape Town. “I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say, ‘Sorry, I would much rather go to the other place.'”
Tutu said he was “as passionate about this campaign [for LGBT rights] as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level.” He was one of the most prominent religious leaders to advocate for LGBT rights. Tutu’s very public stance put him at odds with many in South Africa and across the continent, as well as within the Anglican church.
South Africa, Tutu said, was a nation of promise for racial reconciliation and equality, even though he grew disillusioned with the African National Congress, the anti-apartheid movement that became the ruling party in 1994 elections. His outspoken remarks long after apartheid sometimes angered partisans, who accused him of being biased or out of touch.
Barack Obama “While he was best known for his non-violent opposition to apartheid in South Africa and work to heal divisions as the ‘Rainbow Nation’ moved toward democracy, his actions resonated everywhere, especially with oppressed peoples and their struggle for freedom and equality.”U.S. President Joe Biden also shared his memories of the late archbishop, calling him “a true servant of God and of the people.””His legacy transcends borders and will echo throughout the ages,” Biden said in a statement.
