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Desmond Mpilo Tutu (born 7 October 1931) is a South African Anglican cleric and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then the Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology; politically, he identifies as a socialist.

Tutu was born of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage to a poor family in Klerksdorp, British Imperial South Africa. Entering adulthood, he trained as a teacher and married Nomalizo Leah Tutu, with whom he had several children. In 1960, he was ordained as an Anglican priest and in 1962 moved to the United Kingdom to study theology at King's College London. In 1966 he returned to southern Africa, teaching at the Federal Theological Seminary and then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. In 1972, he became the Theological Education Fund's director for Africa, a position based in London but necessitating regular tours of the African continent. Back in southern Africa in 1975, he served first as dean of St Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg and then as Bishop of Lesotho, taking an active role in opposition to South Africa's apartheid system of racial segregation and white-minority rule. From 1978 to 1985 he was general-secretary of the South African Council of Churches, emerging as one of South Africa's most prominent anti-apartheid activists. Although warning the National Party government that anger at apartheid would lead to racial violence, as an activist he stressed non-violent protest and foreign economic pressure to bring about universal suffrage.

In 1985 he became Bishop of Johannesburg and in 1986 the Archbishop of Cape Town, the most senior position in southern Africa's Anglican hierarchy. In this position he emphasised a consensus-building model of leadership and oversaw the introduction of women priests. Also in 1986, he became president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, resulting in further tours of the continent. After President F. W. de Klerk released the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 and the pair led negotiations to end apartheid and introduce multi-racial democracy, Tutu assisted as a mediator between rival black factions. After the 1994 general election resulted in a coalition government headed by Mandela, the latter selected Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses committed by both pro and anti-apartheid groups. Since apartheid's fall, Tutu has campaigned for gay rights and spoken out on a wide range of subjects, among them the Israel-Palestine conflict, his opposition to the Iraq War, and his criticism of South African Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. In 2010, he retired from public life.

Tutu polarised opinion as he rose to notability in the 1970s. White conservatives who supported apartheid despised him, while many white liberals regarded him as too radical; many black radicals accused him of being too moderate and focused on cultivating white goodwill, while Marxist-Leninists criticised his anti-communist stance. He was widely popular among South Africa's black majority, and was internationally praised for his anti-apartheid activism, receiving a range of awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and sermons.

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Tilgivelsens bog

Hvordan kan man tilgive? I sin nye bog udforsker Desmond Tutu sammen med sin datter, Mpho, tilgivelsens kraft og vejen til forsoning. Fra små krænkelser i hverdagen til vold, misbrug og racisme - alt kan tilgives, men vejen og resultatet er aldrig den samme.

Som vidne til nogle af de værste forbrydelser, mennesker kan begå mod hinanden, hører Nobelpristager DESMOND TUTU gang på gang det samme spørgsmål: Hvordan kan man tilgive? Denne bog er hans svar. Bogen er skrevet med datteren MPHO TUTU, og sammen udforsker de enkle, men dybe sandheder om betydningen af tilgivelse, om hvordan tilgivelse virker på os, og om hvorfor alle har brug for at kunne give og modtage tilgivelse. At tilgive andre er den største gave, vi kan give os selv, når vi er blevet krænket. Vejen til tilgivelse kan være lang og tage år at gå, og det er ikke sikkert, at relationen kan bevares, efter at uretten er tilgivet. Men det er den eneste måde, hvorpå vi kan blive frie igen.
Desmond Tuto (f. 1931) i Klerksdorp, Transvaal. Han er uddannet lærer og derefter teolog og har undervist ved teologiske fakulteter i både Sydafrika og England. I 1960 blev han ordineret som præst i den anglikanske kirke, og i 1986 blev han ærkebiskop af Capetown som den første sorte nogensinde. Derudover er han æresdoktor på en række universiteter i USA og Europa og har modtaget mange internationale priser. Mpho Tutu (f. 1963) er grundlægger og leder af The Tutu Institute for Prayer and Pilgrimage. Tidligere har hun arbejdet blandt udsatte børn, flygtninge og voldtægtsofre. 

LEKTØRUDTALELSE
"Bogen, som er letlæst, indlevende og medfølende, er en gave til især dem, der har svært ved at tilgive. Men her er vise ord til alle dem, som vil gå vejen mod fred med sig selv og verde." - Lektør: Grethe Lorentzen
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Udgivelsesdato18 aug. 2014
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ISBN lydbog9788711324349