Courage was the hallmark of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The Most Rev Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of Cape Town and anti-apartheid campaigner, was born on October 7, 1931. He died on December 26, 2021, aged 90.
Courage, both moral and physical, was the hallmark of the man who became the first black leader of the Anglican church in South Africa. For 15 years, while Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the African National Congress were in prison, Tutu was his country’s most prominent opponent of apartheid, leading the black liberation struggle at home and abroad.
This first black Archbishop of Cape Town also risked the hostility of his country’s angry and radicalised black population by preaching moderation. Though Tutu did not explicitly condemn the armed struggle for black emancipation, he abhorred violence and sometimes said prayers at public meetings for South Africa’s white oppressors.
Tutu was a small, ebullient man with a keen sense of mischief and a great cackle of a laugh. He would weep in public, dance down aisles or across stages, and use wit to disguise the most trenchant criticism. He believed in humour, humility and humanity. He was sustained by his great faith, by several hours of daily prayer and Bible study, and the rock-solid support of his wife, Leah.