An extraordinary man’s remarkable life came to an end the day after Christmas last year. It generated an outpouring of sorrow and tributes from all over the world. The people of South Africa, who lovingly called him ‘the Arch,’ felt devastated. Thanks to a rare blend of qualities and gifts—a sharp intellect, a refreshing sense of humour, an infectious laughter, a ready wit, boundless compassion and courage in the face of threats—Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a much-admired and much-loved figure for decades.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in a poor Methodist family on 7 October 1931 in Transvaal, South Africa. Later they shifted to the Anglican Church. He grew up watching the horrible implications of the cruel, racist apartheid system in South Africa that gave all the political power to the minority whites and discriminated against the blacks, who were the majority. In a system that rigidly segregated the citizens on the basis of their skin colour, the blacks had no right to vote.
After his high school, Tutu dreamed of becoming a doctor and managed to get admission in a medical college, but his parents could not afford the expensive fees. He courted Nomalizo Leah, a friend of his sister. Leah happened to be a Catholic and Tutu agreed to a Catholic wedding ceremony, after having their marriage registered. They both became teachers, but when the racist government, in a blatant attempt to promote inequality, passed the Bantu Education Act, which deliberately lowered the standards of education for black South Africans, they quit teaching. Tutu took to learning theology and was ordained an Anglican priest in 1961. Next year he went to England to earn a master’s degree in theology and returned to South Africa in 1967.
Not Revenge, but Reconciliation
Tutu spent some time in East Jerusalem, learning Arabic and Greek. He taught theology in South Africa for five years and then went again to England to be the vice-director of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches. When he returned to South Africa in 1975, he was appointed the Dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, then the Bishop of Lesotho in 1976 and the Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985. The very next year he became the first black person to hold the highest position in the South African Anglican Church—the Archbishop of Cape Town. He was named the president of the All Africa Conference of Churches in 1987—a position he held until 1997.
Fr M A Joe Antony SJ
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