Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African Truth and Reconciliation Firebrand, Dies at 90 – Opinion

“You are overwhelmed by the extent of evil,” he said. However, he said, “You are overwhelmed by the extent of evil.” He added that to clean it, one had to first open it. In return for an honest accounting of past crimes, the committee offered amnesty, establishing what Archbishop Tutu called the principle of restorative — rather than retributive — justice.

His credibility was crucial to the commission’s efforts to get former members of the South African security forces and former guerrilla fighters to cooperate with the inquiry.

Even though the anti-apartheid movement was successful and Nelson Mandela was elected the first Black South African president, Archbishop Tutu remained true to power and called out corruption and inequalities. His pastoral beliefs were always in line with his political views.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a child of a houseworker and a Methodist teacher. He was born October 7, 1931. Desmond, a small boy, was baptized Methodist. However, later, his entire family joined the Anglican church.

Tutu’s life was greatly influenced, and very well may have been saved, by the Rev. Trevor Huddleston was a white man and prominent anti-apartheid activist. Tutu suffered from tuberculosis, and was admitted to the hospital by Rev. Huddleston saw Tutu almost daily. Tutu, who had just recovered from a serious illness that threatened his life, initially wanted to go into medicine. The family couldn’t afford to pay tuition. So, Tutu became a teacher instead, pursuing studies at the Pretoria Bantu Normal College before receiving a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Africa. Tutu was a teacher in high school for three-years, until he resigned to protest the Bantu Education Act which lowers education standards for Black students.