*Human rights activist Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa has died. He passed away on Sonday, December 26 at the age of 90.
“The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement.
Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his work towards ending apartheid.
Ramaphosa said Tutu was a “patriot without equal.”
“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,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.
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The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said, “South Africa and the world have lost one of the great spirits and moral giants of our age.”
“Tutu was a living embodiment of faith in action, speaking boldly against racism, injustice, corruption, and oppression, not just in apartheid South Africa but wherever in the world he saw wrongdoing, especially when it impacted the most vulnerable and voiceless in society,” the Foundation said in a statement.
Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s, Reuters reported. He had been hospitalized for infections tied to his cancer diagnosis in recent years the outlet reported.
Naturally, world leaders are speaking out to offer condolences and tributes.
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s life was a gift. Blessed with brilliance and eloquence, steady determination and good humor, and an unshakeable faith in the inherent decency of all people, Archbishop Tutu fully embodied the spirit of Ubuntu: ‘I am because you are,’” said Bill Clinton, who was president of the U.S. when South Africa was liberated from apartheid. “That spirit drove him to fight first for freedom and then for reconciliation.
“Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere,” said former President Obama. “He never lost his impish sense of humour and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries, and Michelle and I will miss him dearly.”
Queen Elizabeth II said she remembered with fondness her meetings with him, and his great warmth and humor.
“Archbishop Tutu’s loss will be felt by the people of South Africa and by so many people in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and across the Commonwealth, where he was held in such high affection and esteem.”
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