Photo via imemc.org

Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks at St. Joseph’s University

Nobel Peace Laureate and human rights activist, Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu delivered a lecture Sunday at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, reports Jackie O'Neal, special to ASSIST News Service.

Approximately 1,000 people gathered at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse to listen to his speech on “Creating a Community of Peace.”

Archbishop Tutu shared anecdotes about his life as a peace crusader and leadership as chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as the role he played in helping heal the deep wounds in the post-apartheid era.

“Justice has overcome injustice and freedom has happened from an unlikely place. Goodness has prevailed,” he said.

After the lecture, several students and faculty addressed Archbishop Tutu with questions. When asked by a faculty member, how truth and reconciliation can help in healing the old wounds between blacks and whites in America, referring to slavery in America, a woman in the audience shouted: “Reparation!”

In response, Archbishop Tutu pointed out the interconnectedness between the races. “The descendants of the perpetrators (referring to the slave owners) had benefits that accrued from what happened. We are interconnected. Just from the fact you benefited, the question comes up: how did these benefits accrue? What are the ways I can help?” he said.

The audience broke in energetic applause. One student asked Archbishop Tutu his reaction to some misconceptions about Africa and its people. “People are often still thinking-when did you get out of the trees? People are surprised to realize that Africa produced the first heart transplant. We'll educate you slowly,” he said.

Born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, South Africa, Tutu planned to become a school teacher until South Africa's white minority government in 1953 imposed on black students an inferior system of education that eliminated math and science classes in hopes of keeping them in a permanent underclass. Tutu instead entered the seminary and was ordained in the Anglican church in 1961, continuing his studies at the University of London, where he earned a master's degree in theology.

After returning to South Africa, he was elected bishop of Lesotho, bishop of Johannesburg and archbishop of Cape Town. In 1995, President Nelson Mandela named Tutu to head the commission investigating human rights violations that occurred under apartheid. Tutu retired from the archdiocese of Cape Town in 1996 and has since served as archbishop emeritus.

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[04/08/2008]

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