Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights advocate

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the cause of racial justice in South Africa. He served as the first black African archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996. Prior to this role as spiritual leader of the Anglican Church in South Africa, Tutu served as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches from 1978 to 1985. It was in this position that he became an international voice for the anti-apartheid movement and received the Nobel Prize. In 1995, South African President Nelson Mandela appointed Archbishop Tutu Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the body set up to investigate human rights violations under that country’s apartheid governments from 1960 to 1994. Tutu retired from in 1996 and was given the honorary title of Archbishop Emeritus. Since then, Archbishop Tutu served as a visiting professor and scholar at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He has received numerous awards and has authored two books, No Future Without Forgiveness and God has a Dream. Tutu continues to write, lecture, and travel the world as an advocate of human rights and social justice. He is currently involved with a number of non-profit organizations working for peace and equality, meeting the needs of disadvantaged children and fighting HIV/AIDS. Close.

Desmond Tutu

Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights advocate

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu was awarded the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the cause of racial justice in South Africa. He served as the first black African archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996. Prior to this role as spiritual leader of the Anglican Church in South Africa, Tutu served as General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches from 1978 to 1985. more »

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January 5, 2007 11:00 AM

Near Death As A Child, I Learned Trust in God

When I was about 14 or so I contracted TB and was admitted to an isolation hospital. One day I started coughing up blood quite profusely.

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February 28, 2007 7:34 AM

Blessed are the persecuted

On race my faith told me that each of us is of inestimable worth since each is created in the image of God.

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Posted by Desmond Tutu | | Comments (140)




April 12, 2007 9:55 AM

We Can Learn From Masters of All Faiths

Christians,Muslims and Jews as adherents of the three great monotheistic religions actually do not have a corner on the God market.

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April 18, 2007 10:10 AM

God Cares. God Loves. We Choose.

We inhabit a universe -- that is it has order and laws and we human creatures have a precious gift, the freedom to choose which makes us moral agents.

Our God who is omnipotent is also weak in that God has imposed limitations on God’s omnipotence to give us the space to have a real autonomy.

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Posted by Desmond Tutu | | Comments (71)




August 29, 2007 7:09 AM

We Live By Faith, Not Certainty

I am surprised at the flurry of discussion and concern about this aspect of Mother Teresa’s inner life, because spiritual teachers have long taught about the dark night of the soul. St John of the Cross spoke eloquently about this phenomenon, that in many ways it was a common occurrence, God seeking to wean us away from the consolations of God so that we would turn our hearts towards the God of consolations. Even Jesus in a way experienced this desolation when he cried out on the Cross, ’My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?’

Mother Teresa wonderfully was no plaster cast saint. She has helped to affirm many who are passing through this period of desolation and dryness when God seems so remote. St Theresa of Avila after one such bout cried out in frustration to God, ’No wonder your friends are so few given how you treat them!’ My regard for Mother Teresa has been enhanced.

Doubt can be an integral part of faith, when the evidence is never so overwhelming, so incontrovertible. St Thomas is our patron Saint for doubters. We live by faith not by sight and frequently the evidence does not make the leap of faith redundant.

God bless you.

Posted by Desmond Tutu | | Comments (43)


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