Desmond Tutu retires from public life
Episcopal News Service. October 7, 2010 [100710-02]
ENS staff
Human rights activist and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town Desmond Tutu retired from public life Oct. 7, his 79th birthday, to spend more time with family.
"I am exceedingly grateful for his prophetic witness, his ability to call others to reconcile, and his gift for holding together both delight in God's people and lament at the ways they (we) treat each other," said Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in a statement to ENS. "His witness will continue to reverberate throughout the world, and, I hope, the Anglican Communion. We give thanks and say, 'well done, good and faithful servant.'"
Tutu served as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches from 1978–1985. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his work through SACC. He served as archbishop of Cape Town and primate of Southern Africa from 1986-1996, and was appointed chair of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995.
Tutu was one of the leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and frequently led demonstrations and spoke out publicly on the world stage in support of democracy and civil rights.
"Time has now come to slow down, sip rooibos tea with my wife in the afternoon, watch cricket, and travel to visit children and grandchildren rather than to conferences and conventions and university campuses," Tutu told a July 22 media briefing at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town.
He said he would honor all existing appointments but would not add any new engagements to his schedule, and that he would limit his working time to one day a week until his office winds down in February 2011.
Tutu was among 16 people honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented by President Barack Obama at an August 2009 awards ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C.
"It is with deep appreciation that I note Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s retirement from public life today on the occasion of his 79th birthday," said Obama Oct. 7, in a statement issued by the White House Office of the Press Secretary. "This event invites us to celebrate his many accomplishments from which we have all benefited. For decades he has been a moral titan -- a voice of principle, an unrelenting champion of justice, and a dedicated peacemaker."