Desmond Tutu is a South African Anglican theologian and cleric, famous for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996 and the Bishop of Joburg from 1985 to 1986. In both cases, he is the 1st black to hold such positions.
The Early Life of Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on 7th October 1931 in Klerksdorp. His mother is called Allen Dorothea Mavoertsek Mathlare, and his father is known as Zacharian Zelilo Tutu. Desmond had an older sister named Sylvia Funeka. The family was Methodists, and Desmond got baptized into the Methodist Church in 1932.
In 1936, the family moved to Tshing, where Zacharia became a principal of a Methodist school. They lived in a hut in the schoolyard. There, Desmond began his primary education and played football with the other kids. He also became the server at St. Francis Anglican Church. Tutu developed a love of reading, especially comic books, and European fairy tales. Besides, he also learned Afrikaans. In 1941, Desmond Tutu’s mum moved to Witwatersrand to work as a cook at Ezenzeleni Blind Institute in Western Joburg. Desmond joined her in the city. In Joburg, he went to a Methodist school before transferring to SBS (Swedish Boarding School) in the St Agnes Mission. Tutu pursued his interest in the Christian faith, and at 12 years, he underwent confirmation at St Mary’s Church.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu failed the arithmetic component of his primary school exam. However, his father still secured him entry to the Johannesburg Bantu High School in 1945, where he was successful in academics. There, he joined a school rugby team, and outside of school, he earned money by selling fruits (oranges) and as a caddie for white golfers. In 1947, Desmond Tutu contracted TB and got hospitalized in Rietfontein for more than a year, during which he spent most of his time reading, and Huddleston regularly visited him. In the hospital, he underwent circumcision to make his change to adulthood or manhood. He returned to school 2 years later (1949) and took his national exams in 1950.
Wanting to be a doctor, Tutu secured admission to study medicine at Witwatersrand University. However, his parents couldn’t afford the tuition fees. He turned toward teaching, gaining a government scholarship to begin a Pretoria Bantu Normal College course in 1951. He served as treasurer of the SRC (Student Representative Council), helped organize the Literacy and Dramatic Society, and chaired the Cultural and Debating Society for 2 years. At the college. Desmond MpiloTutu got his Transvaal Bantu Teachers Diploma.
In 1954, he started teaching English at Madibane High School. The following year, he moved to the Krugersdorp High School. He started courting Nomalizo Leah Shenxane. They got married at Krugersdorp Native Commissioner’s Court in 1955 before undergoing a Roman Catholic wedding ceremony. Their 1st child, called Trevor, was born in 1956, and their 1st daughter, known as Thandeka, came 16 months later.
The two worshipped at St. Paul’s Church, where Desmond volunteered as a Sunday school teacher, church counselor, assistant choirmaster, lay preacher, and sub-deacon.
In 1953, the National Party government introduced the Bantu Education Act to further their apartheid racial segregation system. Desmond and his wife disliked these changes and decided to leave the teaching profession. Desmon then became an Anglican priest. In 1956, his request to join the Ordinands Guild got rejected because of the debts he had accumulated. Desmond later got admitted to St. Peter’s Theological College in Johannesburg. In 1960 Tutu’s wife gave birth to another child called Naomi.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu studied Anglican doctrine, the Bible, church history, and Christian ethics at the college, achieving a Licentiate of Theology degree. He also won the Archbishop’s annual essay prize for his discussion of Islam and Christianity.
In 1960, Edward Paget ordained Desmond Mpilo Tutu as an Anglican priest at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Desmond Tutu got appointed as an assistant curate in St. Alban’s Parish, where he reunited with his family. Two years later (1962), Desmond Tutu went to St. Philip’s Church in Thokoza, where he was in charge of the congregation and developed a passion for pastoral ministry.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu got a Bachelor of Divinity in 1965 and a Master of Theology in the following year (1966), both from the University of London. Desmond was academically successful, and his tutors proposed that he convert to an honors degree, which entailed him also studying and learning Hebrew. He attained his degree from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in a ceremony held at the Royal Albert Hall.
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Desmond Tutu’s Later Life
In October 1994, Desmond Mpilo Tutu announced his intent to retire as an Archbishop in 1996. His counterparts held a farewell ceremony for him at St. George’s Cathedral in 1996, and senior politicians such as Mandela attended it. There, Nelson Mandela awarded Desmond Tutu the Order for Meritorious Service. In January 1997, Desmond was diagnosed with prostate cancer and traveled abroad for treatment. Desmond Tutu faced recurrences of the disease in 2006 and 1999.
In 2000, he opened an office in Cape Town, and in June the same year, the Cape Town-based Desmond Tutu Peace Center got launched.
In 2002, Desmond taught at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge. From January to May 2003, Tutu taught at the University of North Carolina.
Desmond Tutu’s Reception and Legacy (His Honors)
By the time of Apartheid’s fall, Desmond Mpilo Tutu had attained worldwide respect for his uncompromising stand for reconciliation, justice, and integrity. Desmond Mpilo Tutu made a unique and powerful contribution to publicizing the anti-apartheid struggle abroad, especially in the US. After the end of Apartheid, Desmond Tutu became the globe’s most prominent religious leader advocating for lesbian rights and gay rights.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu’s greatest legacy was that he gave the world, as it entered the 21st century, an African model for expressing the human community nature. Desmond Mpilo Tutu gained much adulation from black journalists and inspired imprisoned anti-apartheid activists. Desmond was a respected religious leader and a representation or symbol of black achievement for the black South Africans. By 1984, Tutu was the personification of the South African liberation or freedom struggle. In 1988, people described Desmond as a spokesman for his people and voiceless voice.
The response Tutu got from South Africa’s white minority was more mixed. Most of those who criticized Desmond Mpilo Tutu were conservative whites who didn’t want a shift away from Apartheid and white-minority rule. Several of these whites got angry at Tutu for he was calling for economic sanctions against SA.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu drew criticism from within the antiapartheid movement and the black South African people or community. People repeatedly criticized him for making statements on behalf of black South African people without consulting other community leaders 1st. Some black anti-apartheid activists regarded him as too moderate.
Desmond Mpilo Tutu attained several international honorary degrees and awards, especially in South Africa, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. By 2003, Desmond Tutu had more than 90 honorary degrees. He was the 1st person whom the Ruhr University of West Germany awarded an honorary doctorate and the 3rd person whom the Columbia University in the United States agreed to award an honorary doctorate off-campus.
On 16th October 1984, Desmond Mpilo Tutu achieved the world’s most special prize, the Nobel Peace Prize. Three years later, in 1987, Desmond Mpilo Tutu earned the Pacem in Terris Award. In 2003, Desmond Tutu got the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, which Coretta Scott King, Awards Council member, presented. In 2008 Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois, proclaimed 13th May as ‘Desmond Tutu Day.’
In 2015, Queen Elizabeth the 2nd was pleased to approve Desmond Mpilo Tutu the honorary British Award of The Order of the Companions of Honor. Queen Elizabeth the 2nd appointed Desmond Mpilo Tutu as a Bailiff Grand Cross of the Venerable Order of St. John in September 2017. In 2013, he received over $1 million Templeton Prize for his life-long work in advancing spiritual principles like forgiveness and love. Desmond Tutu accepted honorary membership into the Golden Key International Honor Society along with other notables such as Bill Ford.
Desmond Tutu’s Writings
Desmond MpiloTutu is the author of 7 collections of sermons and other writings. They include Crying in the Wilderness, Hope, and Suffering: Sermons and Speeches, The Words of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, The Rainbow People of God: The Making of a Peaceful Revolution, and Worshipping Church in Africa. Others are the Essential Desmon Mpilo Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness, An African Prayerbook, God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time, Desmond and the Very Mean Word, and the Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World.
With leaders such as Desmond Mpilo Tutu, the world can be a better tomorrow for future generations. As Tutu was advocating love and forgiveness, if people live in the same spiritual principles of forgiveness and love, the world can be a better place to live in. modern-day religious leaders should look up to Desmond Tutu because he is an example that people should follow.
