Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Anti-Apartheid Leader and Voice of Justice, Dead at 90

Yesterday, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, anti-apartheid leader and voice of justice, died at age 90. Tutu was a Nobel Peace Prize-winning Anglican priest whose humor, inspiring messages, and continuous work for civil and human rights made him a respected leader during the struggle to end apartheid, the South African official policy of racial segregation. Tutu’s death is followed by his suffering from ill health for several years. Back in 2013, Tutu underwent tests for an infection, and he was admitted to the hospital several times in the following years.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to Tutu’s family and friends yesterday, following the announcement of Tutu’s death: “A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world.”

For over 60 years, Tutu, also known as “the Arch,” was one of the primary voices in encouraging the South African government to end apartheid. In hearing of his death, ​​the Nelson Mandela foundation stated: “He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing,” the foundation said in a statement. “His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies.”

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Source: CNN