Pope Francis Mourns Death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu
ROME — Pope Francis sent condolences Sunday for the death of South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu, praising his witness in promoting racial equality.
“His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and he offers heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones,” reads the telegram sent in the pope’s name by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
“Mindful of his service to the gospel through the promotion of racial equality and reconciliation in his native South Africa, His Holiness commends his soul to the loving mercy of Almighty God,” the text states.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu (R) greets S. African President Nelson Mandela (L) at the entrance of St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town 23 June 1996. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
“Upon all who mourn his passing in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection, Pope Francis invokes the divine blessings of peace and consolation in the Lord Jesus,” it concludes.
The pope’s statement joins an outpouring of affection and appreciation for the archbishop, who died Sunday at the age of 90.
Tutu’s death “is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in a statement.
A champion of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, Tutu’s campaigning took a more controversial turn in later years as he pushed for the recognition of same-sex marriage, abortion, and assisted suicide as “civil rights.”
Tutu’s daughter, the Rev. Mpho Tutu, an ordained Episcopal priest and the executive director and founder of the Tutu Institute for Prayer and Pilgrimage, married her longtime lesbian lover Marceline van Furth in January of 2016.
South African activist and Nobel Peace Prize and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu blesses the “Human rainbow” concert to celebrate ANC Deputy President Nelson Mandela’s release, on March 17, 1990 in Johannesburg. (WALTER DHLADHLA/AFP via Getty Images)
Archbishop Tutu has called the oppression of homosexuals around the world the “new Apartheid” and declared he would never worship a “homophobic God” but would rather go to hell.
Also in 2016, Archbishop Tutu penned an editorial for the Washington Post in which he called physician-assisted suicide a “God-given right.”
In his op-ed, Tutu lamented that there are “still many thousands of dying people across the world who are denied their right to die with dignity.”
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