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Desmond Tutu

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Religious figures and
leaders

           Archbishop Desmond Tutu
         Born 7 October 1931
              Klerksdorp, Transvaal
   Occupation Cleric, Human Rights activist

   The Most Reverend Desmond Mpilo Tutu (born 7 October 1931) is a South
   African cleric and activist who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s
   as an opponent of apartheid. Tutu was elected and ordained the first
   black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, and
   primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the
   Anglican Church of Southern Africa). He was awarded the Nobel Peace
   Prize in 1984.

   He was generally credited with coining the term Rainbow Nation as a
   metaphor to describe post-apartheid South Africa after 1994 under ANC
   rule. The expression has since entered mainstream consciousness to
   describe South Africa's ethnic diversity.

Background

   Born in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, Tutu moved with his family to
   Johannesburg at the age of 12. Although he wanted to become a
   physician, his family could not afford the training and he followed his
   father's footsteps into teaching. Tutu studied at the Pretoria Bantu
   Normal College from 1951 through 1953. Tutu went on to teach at
   Johannesburg Bantu High School where he remained until 1957; he
   resigned following the passage of the Bantu Education Act, protesting
   the poor educational prospects for black South Africans. He continued
   his studies, this time in theology, and in 1960 was ordained as an
   Anglican priest. He became chaplain at the University of Fort Hare, a
   hotbed of dissent and one of the few quality universities for black
   students in the southern part of Africa.

   Tutu left his post as chaplain and travelled to King's College London,
   (1962–1966), where he received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in
   Theology. He returned to Southern Africa and from 1967 until 1972 used
   his lectures to highlight the circumstances of the black population. He
   wrote a letter to Prime Minister Vorster, in which he described the
   situation in South Africa as a "powder barrel that can explode at any
   time." The letter was never answered.

   In 1972 Tutu returned to the UK, where he was appointed vice-director
   of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches, at
   Bromley in Kent. He returned to South Africa in 1975 and was appointed
   Anglican Dean of Johannesburg—the first black person to hold that
   position.

   He has been married to Leah Nomalizo Tutu since 1955. They have four
   children: Trevor Thamsanqa Tutu, Theresa Thandeka Tutu, Naomi Nontombi
   Tutu and Mpho Andrea Tutu, all of whom attended the famous Waterford
   Kamhlaba School.

   In 1996, Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

   In 2000 Tutu received a L.H.D. from Bates College and in 2005, Tutu
   received an honorary degree from the University of North Florida, one
   of the many universities in North America and Europe where he has
   taught. He visited a school at that time, Twin Lakes Academy Elementary
   School, and spoke to a class of 3rd graders about his work.

   In 2005, Tutu was named a Doctor of Humane Letters at Fordham
   University in The Bronx. He was also awarded Honorary Patronage of the
   University Philosophical Society by John Hume another Honorary Patron
   of the Society and fellow Nobel laureate. He also was awarded an
   honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Berea College prior to delivering
   the commencement address.

   In 2006, Tutu was named a Doctor of Public Service at the College of
   William and Mary in Virginia, where he was also the commencement
   speaker. He was awarded the Light of Truth award along with Tintin by
   the Dalai Lama for their contribution towards public understanding of
   Tibet.

   In 2007, Tutu will travel for 100 days with college students in the
   Semester at Sea program through the University of Virginia.

Political work

   In 1976 protests in Soweto, also known as the Soweto Riots, against the
   government's use of Afrikaans as a compulsory medium of instruction in
   black schools became a massive uprising against apartheid. From then on
   Tutu supported an economic boycott of his country.

   Desmond Tutu was Bishop of Lesotho from 1976 until 1978, when he became
   Secretary-General of the South African Council of Churches. From this
   position, he was able to continue his work against apartheid with
   agreement from nearly all churches. Tutu consistently advocated
   reconciliation between all parties involved in apartheid through his
   writings and lectures at home and abroad. Though he was most firm in
   denouncing South Africa's white-ruled government, Tutu was also harsh
   in his criticism of the violent tactics of some anti-apartheid groups
   such as the African National Congress and denounced terrorism and
   Communism.

   On 16 October 1984, Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel
   Committee cited his "role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign
   to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa."

   Tutu became the first black person to lead the Anglican Church in South
   Africa on 7 September 1986. In 1989 Tutu was invited to Birmingham,
   United Kingdom, as part of Citywide Christian Celebrations. Tutu and
   his wife visited a number of establishments including Nelson Mandela
   School in Sparkbrook.

   After the fall of apartheid, he headed the Truth and Reconciliation
   Commission, for which he was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999.

   In 2004, Tutu returned to the UK as Visiting Professor in Post-Conflict
   Societies at King's College and gave the Commemoration Oration, as part
   of the College's 175th anniversary. He also visited the students' union
   nightclub, named "Tutu's" in his honour and featuring a rare bust of
   his likeness.

   On 17 March 2004 Tutu visited Marymount to accept Marymount
   University's 2004 Ethics Award.

Political views

   The Nobel laureate also has expressed support for the West Papuan
   independence movement, criticizing the United Nations' role in the
   takeover of West Papua by Indonesia. Tutu said: "For many years the
   people of South Africa suffered under the yoke of oppression and
   apartheid. Many people continue to suffer brutal oppression, where
   their fundamental dignity as human beings is denied. One such people is
   the people of West Papua."Tutu has also criticised human rights abuses
   in Zimbabwe, calling Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe a "caricature
   of an African dictator", and criticising the South African government's
   policy of quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe.

   He warned of corruption shortly after the election of the African
   National Congress government of South Africa, saying that they "stopped
   the gravy train just long enough to get on themselves".

   In June 1999, Tutu was invited to give the annual Wilberforce Lecture
   in Kingston upon Hull, commemorating the life and achievements of the
   anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce. Tutu used the occasion to
   praise the people of the city for their traditional support of freedom
   and for standing with the people of South Africa in their fight against
   apartheid. He was also presented with the freedom of the city.

   In the debate about Anglican views of homosexuality he has opposed
   Christian discrimination against homosexuality. Commenting days after
   the 5 August 2003 election of Gene Robinson, an openly gay man to be a
   bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Desmond
   Tutu said, "In our Church here in South Africa, that doesn't make a
   difference. We just say that at the moment, we believe that they should
   remain celibate and we don't see what the fuss is about."

     Declared Tutu: "I am deeply saddened at a time when we've got such
     huge problems ... that we should invest so much time and energy in
     this issue...I think God is weeping."
     ...
     "Jesus did not say, 'I if I be lifted up I will draw some'," Tutu
     said, preaching in two morning festival services in Pasadena,
     California. "Jesus said, 'If I be lifted up I will draw all, all,
     all, all, all. Black, white, yellow, rich, poor, clever, not so
     clever, beautiful, not so beautiful. It's one of the most radical
     things. All, all, all, all, all, all, all, all. All belong. Gay,
     lesbian, so-called straight. All, all are meant to be held in this
     incredible embrace that will not let us go. All."
     He continued: "Isn't it sad, that in a time when we face so many
     devastating problems – poverty, HIV/AIDS, war and conflict – that in
     our Communion we should be investing so much time and energy on
     disagreement about sexual orientation?"
     Tutu said the Communion, which "used to be known for embodying the
     attribute of comprehensiveness, of inclusiveness, where we were
     meant to accommodate all and diverse views, saying we may differ in
     our theology but we belong together as sisters and brothers" now
     seems "hell-bent on excommunicating one another. God must look on
     and God must weep."

   In January 2005, Tutu added his voice to the growing dissent over
   terrorist suspects held at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
   referring to detentions without trial as "utterly unacceptable."

   On 20 April 2005, following the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
   as Pope Benedict XVI, Tutu said he was sad that The Roman Catholic
   Church was unlikely to change its opposition to condoms amidst the
   fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa: "We would have hoped for someone more
   open to the more recent developments in the world, the whole question
   of the ministry of women and a more reasonable position with regards to
   condoms and HIV/AIDS."

   In February 2006 Desmond Tutu took part in the 9th Assembly of the
   World Council of Churches, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. There he
   manifested his commitment to ecumenism and praised the efforts of
   Christian churches to promote dialogue in order to diminish their
   differences. For Desmond, "a united church is no optional extra".

   In August 2006 Archbishop Tutu publicly urged Jacob Zuma, the South
   African politician who'd been accused of sexual crimes and corruption,
   to drop out of the ANC's presidential succession race. Zuma's personal
   advisor responded by accusing Tutu of having double standards and
   "selective amnesia" (as well as being old). Tutu and Zuma’s public
   criticism of each other are reflections of a turbulent time in South
   African politics.

Israel and Judaism

   Tutu once said, "In our struggle against apartheid, the great
   supporters were Jewish people. They almost instinctively had to be on
   the side of the disenfranchised, of the voiceless ones, fighting
   injustice, oppression and evil. I have continued to feel strongly with
   the Jews. I am patron of a Holocaust centre in South Africa. I believe
   Israel has a right to secure borders...We condemn the violence of
   suicide bombers, and we condemn the corruption of young minds taught
   hatred.

Divestment from Israel

   Tutu is an active and prominent advocate of divestment from Israel.
   Tutu compared Israeli treatment of Palestinians to South African
   apartheid.

   Tutu used the analogy on a Christmas visit to Jerusalem on 25 December
   1989 when he said in a Haaretz article that he is a "black South
   African, and if I were to change the names, a description of what is
   happening in Gaza and the West Bank could describe events in South
   Africa." In 2002 Tutu said that he was "very deeply distressed" by a
   visit to Israel, as it that "it reminded me so much of what happened to
   us black people in South Africa" and that he saw "the humiliation of
   the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when
   young white police officers prevented us from moving about". Tutu also
   said, "Many South Africans are beginning to recognize the parallels to
   what we went through" and stated that a letter signed by several
   hundred other prominent Jewish South Africans had drawn an explicit
   analogy between apartheid and current Israeli policies.

Comments on Jews and Judaism

   Tutu has also claimed that "the Jews thought they had a monopoly on
   God; Jesus was angry that they could shut out other human beings" and
   compared the features of the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem to the
   features of the apartheid system in South Africa".

   Tutu has said the Jews should be held to a different standard than
   other peoples and that "whether Jews like it or not, they are a
   peculiar people. They can't ever hope to be judged by the same
   standards which are used for other people, and has asked, "Have our
   Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten their humiliation? Have they
   forgotten the collective punishment, the home demolitions, in their own
   history so soon?" He once asked "how it was possible that the Jews, who
   had suffered so much persecution, could oppress other people ." He has
   also stated that Zionism has "very many parallels with racism.".

   His comparisons of the Israeli treament of Palestinians to the White
   South African Government's treatment of Black South Africans and
   comparisons of Zionism to racism have attracted widespread comment,
   including accusations of anti-Semitism . Tutu has replied to these
   characterizations of his comments by insisting that "critics of Israel
   are being smeared." He cited the power of the "Jewish Lobby."

Quotes

     * "We received death threats, yes, but you see, when you are in a
       struggle, there are going to have to be casualties, and why should
       you be exempt?"
     * "You can't put a money value on freedom."
     * "We can make a difference."

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