By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/25/04)

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu, recipient of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in helping bring a peaceful end to apartheid in South Africa, was presented with the Marymount University Ethics Award last week. More than 1,000 attendees gathered in the Lee Center on Marymount’s campus to hear the heartwarming, inspiring and entertaining speech by the archbishop, a man of small stature but great influence, who laughed heartily at his own jokes.

Five Marymount students performed a stirring recitation of selections from An African Prayer Book by Archbishop Tutu. Their "Reflections on Wholeness" were punctuated with Afrocentric sounds of percussion. Students also performed "Siyahamba," a South African freedom song. University President James E. Bundschuh and director of the Center for Ethical Concerns Paul H. Byers presented Archbishop Tutu with the Ethics Award.

Before he was ordained, Archbishop Tutu taught high school but could not accept a system that prescribed a lesser education for blacks. He thought he could have more of an impact and do more through the church. He was ordained in 1961. In 1984, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1985, he became bishop of Johannesburg and a year later was made Archbishop of Cape Town. Nelson Mandela appointed Archbishop Tutu chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated and revealed the atrocities of the apartheid government and began the process of reconciliation.

"The upholders of the apartheid never imagined the most awful nightmare that one day those sacred records would see the light of day," Archbishop Tutu said last week. "In their worst nightmares they didn’t believe that one day the apartheid would be toppled.

They never ever thought that one day they would be called to account. It did seem that evil, injustice, oppression and lies were going to have the last word. (But) the perpetrators of injustice and evil bit the dust.

"We said often in the dark days when we were seeking to maintain the morale of our people, to keep the light of hope burning, to say, this is God’s world and God is in charge." However, the archbishop admitted, they did sometimes say, "God we do know you’re in charge, but could you make it slightly more obvious?"

Since his retirement in 1996, Archbishop Tutu continues to travel and speak about human rights.

His stance on the use of condoms in South Africa to combat the spread of the HIV/AIDS viruses has caused some controversy. South Africa has one of the world’s highest HIV/AIDS rates with 4.5 million people infected out of a population of 43.5 million.

In February, the archbishop upset the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference when he spoke at an international conference on AIDS saying that studies have disproven the notion that the promotion or the use of condoms causes promiscuity.

The Catholic Church, while it frowns on the use of condoms in general, has made no definitive pronouncement on the use of condoms against the spread of AIDS, and there is continuing theological debate on the issue, according to a Catholic News Service report in March.

"The Church accepts that everyone has the right to defend one’s life against mortal danger. This would include using the appropriate means and course of action," the South African Bishops said, without referring directly to condoms as a means of protection.

Aside from being a public speaker and advocate for his people, Archbishop Tutu has also remained active as a visiting professor and author. He is the author of several books, including his most recent, God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time.

"God’s intention is that all should come to a glorious climax of goodness, beauty and truth," the archbishop said. "In each of us there is a God-shaped space and only God can fill it. God says, ‘I too have a dream. I dream that my children one day will discover that they are family.’ It is our sisters and brothers out there in those refugee camps."

Archbishop Tutu sent out a plea that people remember those who suffer and try to help them in any way possible, through prayer and support.

"Our outrage is one of the most powerful pieces of evidence that wrong, that evil, that injustice, that oppression, that those can’t be the norm. That is why you and I are so upset when the other things seem to gain the upper hand."

Archbishop Tutu attributed international support as one of the things that greatly helped his people overcome oppression. "So many in the international community were willing to work for us," he said. "We are the beneficiaries of much love, prayer, caring and concern."

He said he once met a nun who lived alone in the woods in California. He asked her what her everyday life was like, and she told him that her day began at 2 a.m. when she woke up and prayed for him. He squealed, "Yeah. What chance does the apartheid government stand when I am being prayed for in the forest in California at 2 a.m.?"

While Archbishop Tutu was honored to receive the ethics award form Marymount, he said, "The people you really want to honor are the millions of people back home who are sometimes described as ordinary people. But no one is ordinary. Everyone is extraordinary. If you stand out it is really because you are carried on the shoulders of others."

The archbishop thanked the many Americans who helped bring an end to apartheid through their work, prayers and support, especially American students. "It was heart warming," he said. "I don’t know what cockles are, but the cockles of my heart were warmed. You made a difference, for you helped to bring about freedom. Thank you. On behalf of millions, thank you."