Historical Figure
Desmond Tutu
1931–2021
South African bishop and anti-apartheid activist (1931–2021)
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"Interview" — 2010
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Biography
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first Black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from Black theology with African theology.
Timeline
The story of Desmond Tutu, told in moments.
Ordained as an Anglican priest. Moves to London in 1962 to study theology at King's College. Returns to South Africa in 1966 and rises through the church while apartheid intensifies around him.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to apartheid. The South African government is furious. He uses the global platform to call for economic sanctions: "Be nice to the whites. They need you to rediscover their own humanity."
Becomes Archbishop of Cape Town, the first Black person to hold the highest position in southern Africa's Anglican Church. He uses the pulpit to organize and protect anti-apartheid activists.
Mandela appoints him chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For two years, Tutu listens to testimony from both victims and perpetrators of apartheid violence. He weeps openly during sessions. The commission hears over 21,000 statements.
Dies in Cape Town on Boxing Day at 90. Per his wishes, he is aquamated, not cremated, and his remains are interred behind the pulpit of St George's Cathedral.
In Their Own Words (20)
Isn’t it noteworthy in the parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus does not give a straightforward answer to the question "Who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29). Surely he could have provided a catalog of those whom the scribe could love as himself as the law required. He does not. Instead, he tells a story. It is as if Jesus wanted among other things to point out that life is a bit more complex; it has too many ambivalences and ambiguities to allow always for a straightforward and simplistic answer. This is a great mercy, because in times such as our own — times of change when many familiar landmarks have shifted or disappeared — people are bewildered; they hanker after unambiguous, straightforward answers. We appear to be scared of diversity in ethnicities, in religious faiths, in political and ideological points of view. We have an impatience with anything and anyone that suggests there might just be another perspective, another way of looking at the same thing, another answer worth exploring. There is a nostalgia for the security in the womb of a safe sameness, and so we shut out the stranger and the alien; we look for security in those who can provide answers that must be unassailable because no one is permitted to dissent, to question. There is a longing for the homogeneous and an allergy against the different, the other. Now Jesus seems to say to the scribe, "Hey, life is more exhilarating as you try to work out the implications of your faith rather than living by rote, with ready-made second-hand answers, fitting an unchanging paradigm to a shifting, changing, perplexing, and yet fascinating world." Our faith, our knowledge that God is in charge, must make us ready to take risks, to be venturesome and innovative; yes, to dare to walk where angels might fear to tread.
Ch. 1 : God is Clearly Not a Christian: Pleas for Interfaith Tolerance, 2011
Some of my friends are skeptical when they hear me say this, but I am by nature a person who dislikes confrontation. I have consciously sought during my lifetime to emulate my mother, whom our family knew as a gentle “comforter of the afflicted.” However, when I see innocent people suffering, pushed around by the rich and the powerful, then, as the prophet Jeremiah, says, if I try to keep quiet it is as if the word of God burned like a fire in my breast. I feel compelled to speak out, sometimes to even argue with God over how a loving creator can allow this to happen. In the Church of Sant'Egido in Rome, home of an extraordinary community of lay people devoted to working with the poor, there is an old crucifix that portrays Christ without arms. When I asked about its importance to the community, I was told that it shows how God relies on us to do God's work in the world. Without us, God has no eyes, without us, God has no ears; without us, God has no arms or hands. God relies on us. Won't you join other people of faith in becoming God's partners in the world?
Foreword (April 2011), 2011
You and I are created for transcendence, laughter, caring. God deliberately did not make the world perfect, for God is looking for you and me to be fellow workers with God.
2008
It is for real that injustice and oppression will not have the last word. There was a time when Hitler looked like he was going to vanquish all of Europe, and where is he now?
2008
Sometimes you want to whisper in God's ear, "God, we know you are in charge, but why don't you make it slightly more obvious?"
2008
Artifacts (15)
Porträt südafrikanischer Bischof und Friedensnobelpreisträger Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu, 1986 Jan (cropped)
User:Ellin Beltz rephotographed a framed original owned by Sally Tanner.
Desmond Tutu, 1986 Jan (square)
User:Ellin Beltz rephotographed a framed original owned by Sally Tanner.
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