Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has announced that, from his 79th birthday in October he is to resign from nearly all of his official commitments and withdraw from public life. He has told his friends he wishes to spend more time in reflection and prayer. The only remarkable element of that desire is that he has spent much of his life daily in reflection and prayer.
Desmond Tutu is one of history's extraordinary people as the right man in the right place at the right time. He will be best remembered for his courageous leadership of the Anglican church in South Africa as the spearhead of the fight against apartheid, his bravery in the thick of rioting crowds rescuing people from "necklacing", his conduct of massive funerals and public protests. The lessons he both learned and taught in that period were exemplified in the conduct of the truth and reconciliation commission under his chairmanship, challenging people to tell the truth, weeping as people wept and rejoicing with enemy and friend as they found reconciliation and amnesty. "The truth will set you free" was a clear reality for the world to see and a path, not without some significant imperfections, towards peaceful transition to majority rule as Africa's major democracy. His contribution to world peace grew ever more significant after he "retired". His activity as an "elder", working with similar great leaders towards justice and freedom in Israel-Palestine, in Rwanda, Burma, and a host of other places resulted in almost frenetic global travel. He was rarely in one place for more than a few weeks, so much was he in demand.
Ubuntu
In the United Kingdom his patronage of justice and humanity bore fruit in the creation of the Tutu Foundation UK, working with disaffected communities to combat knife crime, gang warfare and the hopelessness that breeds in deprivation. Conversations for Change, a training programme based on "ubuntu" — an African term which recognises the essential dignity and interdependence of everyone upon everyone else — has showed strong results in pilot schemes in the north of England and London. Carefully monitored for results by academics, it awaits only adequate funding to be rolled out to benefit of many more people.
The secret of this energy unquestionably lies in Tutu's profound faith. He says his prayers all the time, in the back of cars, on aeroplanes, in departure lounges and in churches wherever he is. He prays, by name, from a loose-leaf folder every morning for about an hour, for those who have asked for his help, and for those who would have preferred he did not exist. In the apartheid era, the South African Cabinet was prayed for every day, by name, one by one. It is no wonder that even when they were at enmity he could telephone almost every cabinet minister, at will, to intercede, plead and rebuke.
His colourful comprehensive knowledge of scripture owes an enormous debt to his childhood but perhaps most strongly to the training in scriptural exegesis he obtained while a student at King's College London. He and his young family were almost refugees because this outspoken priest would never have survived in South Africa. When they bravely returned he frequently found himself unable to travel because his passport was confiscated. His house and offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town had bomb protection film on the windows and security patrols in the grounds. While archbishop, on visits to the UK, he was provided with diplomatic police protection against assassination attempts.
The power of humour
With this deeply prayerful energy he has the gifts of a wicked sense of humour and marvellous oratory. Humour was used to great effect reducing the proud and lifting the spirits of the downtrodden to new levels of hope. His pastoral heart never stops beating, he cannot abide people arguing and instantly wishes, not always wisely, to intervene.
He himself readily agrees that the role he developed while archbishop of Cape Town was in many ways easier than the role of his successors: there was one great task of confronting evil and the rest could take second place. Nevertheless, his bravery in all things and his wisdom in working for truth mark him out as someone whose strengths are sadly lacking in many archbishops and political and community leaders all over the world.
Mediocrity and compromise were never part of his public vocabulary or vocation. – guardian.co.uk