PLANT Remembers Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu 26 December 2021
South Africa, the “Beloved Country”, was described by Desmond Mpilo Tutu (1931-2021) as “a beautiful land, richly endowed by God with wonderful natural resources, wide expanses, rolling mountains, singing birds, bright shining stars out of blue skies, with radiant sunshine, golden sunshine.” It is a land where “there is enough of the good things that come from God’s bounty, there is enough for everyone, but apartheid has confirmed some in their selfishness, causing them to grasp greedily a disproportionate share, the lion’s share, because of their power . . .” (From his Nobel Peace Prize Speech on 10 Dec 1984)
This Christmas weekend, on December 26, 2021, South Africa and the world cries for the beloved, moral giant who moved mountains to make way for peace, who begged us to beat our swords into ploughshares, and who strove throughout his life’s epic journey to establish justice as an integral part of peacebuilding. Tutu’s inspirational journey confronted the roots of hatred and violence which grow out of every brand of apartheid, exclusion, polarization, sexism, racism, tribalism, and dogmatism. He used the occasion of acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 to invite everyone “to work to be peacemakers, those given a wonderful share in Our Lord’s ministry of reconciliation.” As a man of deep faith, he was always aware of public service beyond borders and beyond ghettos of every stripe. South Africans speak of death as “transitioning”. As Desmond Tutu was getting closer to that great transitioning, which he embraced with typical fortitude, he was asked how he wanted to be remembered. He answered: “He loved. He laughed. He cried. He was forgiven. He forgave. Greatly privileged.”