Desmond Tutu (South Africa)

(Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize of 1984; the prize was awarded for his courage and heroism in the struggle against apartheid)

South African Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in Klerkdorp (Transvaal Province) in the gold mines region. His father, Zachariah Tutu, from the Bantu tribe, taught at a methodical school. His mother Aletta was from the Tswana tribe and worked as a house maid. Having being baptized in a Methodist Church, Desmond later followed his parents who transferred to the Anglican Church. After their family moved to Johannesburg, he chose Trevor Huddleston as his mentor – an Anglican priest, who spoke against Apartheid.

After finishing the high school in Johannesburg, Tutu received his diploma at the college for Bantu people in Pretoria, and then – the bachelor’s degree at the University of Johannesburg. Between 1954 and 1957, Tutu taught at a high school. In 1955, he married Nomalizo Leah Shenxane; they had three daughters and one son.

In 1957, after the government introduced a discriminating system of education for Bantu people, Tutu resigned in protest and decided to become a priest. Following in the footsteps of father Huddleston, he entered the Redemption Community, where he had to have daily Communion, regular prayers, and reclusive contemplations. The experience deepened his faith. In 1960, Saint Peter’s Theological College gave Tutu the degree of the licentiate of theology, and one year later Tutu was ordained as an Anglican priest.

Tutu’s change of confession coincided with the major political changes in South Africa. In 1910, South African Union was established as a constitutional monarchy within the British Commonwealth of Nations. After the World War II, the National Party, which was dominated by Afrikaners, introduced the system of racial segregation in the country, better known under the name of apartheid. In the 1950s, the further limitation of the freedoms of the black population caused a storm of protests in the country and criticism overseas.

The African National Congress under the leadership of Albert Lutuli tried to find a peaceful solution of the conflict, but in 1960 it was banned. In October, the white minority during a referendum voted to leave the British Commonwealth and in favor of the republican form of government. On May 31 of 1961, the South-African Union was renamed into the South-African Republic.

Tutu ministered at the church of Saint Alban in Benoni (1960-1961), and then in the church of Saint Philip in Alberton (1961-1962). During the next four years he studied abroad, received a bachelor’s degree in theology and a master’s degree in theology at the London Royal College. When he came back to South Africa, he read lectures at the Federal Theological Seminary in 1967-1969, and at the National University of Lesotho in 1970-1971.

Tutu later remembered that the experience he gained in the United Kingdom helped him to “assert himself,” building up his confidence for confronting the white. In 1972, Tutu as the deputy director of the Theological Education Fund visited the United Kingdom again, and traveled in Africa and Asia. After returning home in 1975, he was appointed Dean of Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, and one year later – the bishop of Lesotho.

For Tutu, religion and politics were one and the same thing. “God appears in the Bible in the first place as the embodiment of political experience, the means for freeing slaves from their bondage,” stated Tutu. In 1976, when the young people of Soweto took the way of violence, Tutu together with a black activist Nthato Motlana was able to channel the mob’s anger into the course of peaceful demonstrations. Nevertheless, six hundred coloured people from Soweto became the victims of the June riots. Tutu warned the prime-minister Balthazar Forster in a letter about the possible outbreaks of violence, as a result, the government began to treat the bishop with suspicion.

In 1978, Tutu became the Secretary General of the South-African Church Council. Under his leading, this organization of 13 million Christians, 80% of whom were the so-called “coloured,” demanded from the government to put an end to the system of apartheid. The major part of the South-African Council’s budget was spent to help the coloured, who were imprisoned, and help their families. In 1979, Tutu publicly criticized the South African government for the forceful resettlement of the coloured population from the cities to tribal reservations. When he was in Denmark, Tutu made the South Africa’s authorities angry by his speech on TV, where he appealed to the Danish government not to buy coal from the South Africa.

Although his passport was confiscated twice, which in South Africa was a serious warning, Tutu continued to call for economic sanctions against South African Republic. He also warned the government that their unwillingness to change their policy would inevitably lead to the shedding of the blood. In response to that, Eloff Commission was formed to investigate the financial status of the South African Council of Churches. In the commission’s report, published in February of 1984, there was criticism of the Council’s financial management and of its support for the banned African National Congress. The commission proposed to consider the Council’s calls for sanctions against South Africa as a crime.

At the end of the same year, it was announced that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The representative of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Egil Orwik stated, “The award this year should be considered as the acknowledgement of courage and heroism of the black South Africans who use peaceful means to fight against the apartheid… The committee would like to emphasize that the Peace Prize is a sign of support not only for Tutu and the South Africa Council of Churches headed up by him, but for all the people and groups of South Africa who won our sympathy by their adherence to the human dignity, brotherhood and democracy.”

In his Nobel lecture Tutu expressed his confidence that, “where there is no justice, there is no peace.” “Let us be peacemakers, – said Tutu, – for the Sovereign Lord gave such a blessed portion. If we want peace, let us labour in the name of justice. Let us make our swords into ploughs.”.

In November of 1984, the Synod of Anglican bishops appointed Tutu the first black bishop of Johannesburg, and two years later he became the archbishop. On his becoming the bishop, Tutu settled to live in the black suburbs of Soweto, instead of living at the bishop’s residence, which was located in a white district.

Although the tensions in South Africa did not decrease after Tutu received the Nobel peace prize, he continued to uphold his moderate position. His preaching of the peaceful changes more and more often would draw criticism from the radicals. “We are not fighting to beat anybody down, – patiently explained Tutu, – we are fighting for universal emancipation.”

Tutu made foreign trips to broaden economic sanctions against South Africa; in the United States he met with business and political leaders. In January of 1986, while speaking in Atlanta, Tutu warned of the possible campaign of civil disobedience if the South African government would not reject the policy of racial discrimination. In his own country, he urged all the coloured people to oneness. As confrontation built up, it was more and more difficult for Tutu to combine the role of a moderate activist in the black community and an apostle of peace in the eyes of the white.

During the annual ceremonies at Saint Mary’s Cathedral in 1985, Tutu appealed to the white minority of South Africa to treat the coloured with understanding. “The matter is, we are just normal people. We also love to be in the company of our wives, we are full of joy when our children meet us in the evening after work. There is nothing extraordinary about it, – said Tutu, – this is what every person needs. We want to see a new Africa, where all of us, black and white, would go together toward the future that the Lord will open for us.”

Material is taken from the web-source: http://www.nobeliat.ru