On December 26, 2021, Archbishop Desmond Tutu breathed his last. With the death of the 90-year-old former archbishop of Johannesburg, the world has lost one of its greatest moral authorities and authentic voices. He was a tireless worker for faith, justice and reconciliation.
He will forever be remembered as a leading anti-apartheid figure, actively campaigning against the apartheid system and, later, trying to bring some form of reconciliation to a broken South Africa.
Tutu was born in Klerksdorp, near Johannesburg, in 1931. He initially thought he would become a teacher. However, after obtaining his teaching qualifications, he felt a calling to the ministry, and he was ordained as an Anglican priest in Johannesburg in 1960.
At the time of his ordination, the apartheid system had taken hold of South Africa. There were few prophetic voices, most notably one of Tutu’s predecessors at the Anglican see of Cape Town, Joost de Blank. In addition to opposing apartheid, de Blank had taken the brave decision to refuse to preach in churches that were not open to people of all races. He constantly called out the incompatibility between apartheid and the Christian faith.
During this period, Tutu was not politically active. Instead, he furthered his theological studies in London and, after his return to South Africa, he continued with his pastoral work and teaching and theological activities. In 1976, he was appointed Bishop of Lesotho. His life and ministry would change when he accepted to become the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches. This position thrust Tutu on the international stage.
Though he faced both internal and external pressures, Tutu used this platform to champion greater justice and reconciliation, spurred on by his deeply held Christian faith. Following three previous nominations, Tutu was finally awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. After a very short stint as Bishop of Johannesburg, he was elected archbishop of Cape Town in 1986.
He worked tirelessly to try and ensure freedom for political prisoners. Anti-apartheid activists labelled his meeting with President P.W. Botha in 1980 as a betrayal of the struggle. Tutu, however, recognised that dialogue was the key to change. His actions earned him international support.
When Nelson Mandela was freed, he was hosted by Archbishop Tutu at his residence in Cape Town. However, the relationship between the two men was not without its fair share of tensions.
In 1996, after retiring from archbishop of Cape Town, he chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This experience would later be the subject of his book No Future Without Forgiveness.
Desmond Tutu championed greater justice and reconciliation spurred on by his deeply held Christian faith- André DeBattista
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not quite achieve the aims it intended. While gross human rights abuses were uncovered and the truth very much came out into the open, South Africa remains marred by divisions and injustices. In a political context, reconciliation and forgiveness are difficult to achieve. Tutu himself admitted that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission tested his Christian charity.
Though widely criticised for being too political, Tutu rejected such accusations. He was never afraid to speak the truth to power. He did not shirk away from criticising the African National Congress to the point of announcing, in 2013, that he would never vote for it again due to its corruption, inequality, violence and xenophobia.
Tutu was, first and foremost, a man of faith whose public life was an extension of the very gospel – the Good News – he preached and believed. Admittedly, his message was uncomfortable and disquieting. Yet, this is precisely the effect the gospel should have if it leads to true conversion of life.
The poignancy of his passing in the octave of Christmas should not be lost on Christian believers.
Christmas is the feast where the mystery of the Incarnation is revealed to those on the margins of society. It is a feast that heralds peace on earth and the coming of a Saviour – of good news to all men of goodwill. It is a reminder that God and sinner are reconciled. It points to even greater hope and a more authentic vision of humanity that transcends the here-and-now. It gives a foretaste of an even greater peace and reconciliation, which passes human understanding. This is something Tutu understood.
I differ in both churchmanship and some of the conclusions that Tutu reached but there is much in his life of faith that is inspiring and important.
Firstly, if we, as Christians, believe that man is created in the image and likeness of God, then we cannot be indifferent or neutral in situations of
injustice. In this case, neutrality is simply taking the side of the oppressor. In his characteristic humour, Tutu had written: “if an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
Secondly, the anti-apartheid message is universal. Man needs community to grow and flourish; a person can only fully develop in relation to others – in essence, “a person is a person through other persons”.
Thirdly, he realised that humanity is inherently broken. It is because of this brokenness that humanity needs God. This brokenness also meant that injustice will always be present and that our resolve to combat it must be renewed.
Ultimately, however, “what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us. And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can’t”.
This is the perspective he brought both to the Church and public life. Tutu did not stop at speaking truth to power; he spoke and challenged every individual because he also understood that every individual has a role to play in his community.