South Africa Bids Farewell to Desmond Tutu - BBC News

Jan 1, 2022 • The funeral mass for South African anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu has taken place at the Anglican cathedral in Cape Town.

Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped end the racist regime in South Africa, died last Sunday aged 90.

In his eulogy, President Cyril Ramaphosa described Tutu as "the spiritual father of our new nation".

Tutu had insisted there should be no "lavish spending" on the funeral. He wanted "the cheapest available coffin".


With a Simple Funeral, South Africa Bids Farewell to Desmond Tutu: The archbishop and Nobel laureate left plans for an unostentatious ceremony, which were stripped back further under Covid restrictions. »

Desmond Tutu Condemns Uganda's Proposed New Anti-gay Law

In condemning Uganda's proposed new law, Desmond Tutu
again equated discrimination against gay people with the
horrors of Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa.

THE GUARDIAN: Retired archbishop accuses president of breaking promise in reconsidering law extending penalties against homosexuality

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has condemned Uganda's proposed law against homosexuality, saying there is no scientific or moral basis ever for prejudice and discrimination – and accusing the Ugandan president of breaking a promise not to enact the law. The new law would extend the prohibitions and penalties in a country where homosexuality is already a crime, to include acts such as "suggestive touching" in public.

President Yoweri Museveni had first said that he would not sign the legislation, then that he would do so after seeking scientific advice, and at the weekend that he would delay it pending more advice.

The proposed law has drawn harsh criticism from US president Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton. The US warned that such a move could "complicate" approximately £240m in annual aid to Uganda. In a statement Tutu said: "When President Museveni and I spoke last month, he gave his word that he would not let the anti-homosexuality bill become law in Uganda. I was therefore very disheartened to hear last week that President Museveni was reconsidering his position."

Tutu equated discrimination against gay people with the horrors of Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa. » | Maev Kennedy | Sunday, February 23, 2014

Tony Blair Should Face Trial Over Iraq War, Says Desmond Tutu

THE OBSERVER: Anti-apartheid hero attacks former prime minister over 'double standards on war crimes'

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George Bush to be hauled before the international criminal court [sic] in The Hague and delivered a damning critique of the physical and moral devastation caused by the Iraq war.

Tutu, a Nobel peace prizewinner and hero of the anti-apartheid movement, accuses the former British and US leaders of lying about weapons of mass destruction and says the invasion left the world more destabilised and divided "than any other conflict in history".

Writing in the [sic] Observer, Tutu also suggests the controversial US and UK-led action to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003 created the backdrop for the civil war in Syria and a possible wider Middle East conflict involving Iran.

"The then leaders of the United States and Great Britain," Tutu argues, "fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart. They have driven us to the edge of a precipice where we now stand – with the spectre of Syria and Iran before us." » | Toby Helm, political editor | Sunday, September 02, 2012

Tutu Chides Church Over Stance on Homosexuality
Photo of Archbishop Desmond Tutu courtesy of the BBC
BBC: South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, he said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had failed to demonstrate that God is "welcoming".

He also repeated accusations that the Church was "obsessed" with the issue of gay priests.

He said it should rather be focusing on global problems such as Aids.

"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.

"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.

"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

Criticising Dr Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God." Tutu chides Church for gay stance (more)

Mark Alexander