Desmond Tutu Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Social and international issues: 1999–2009=== {{Quote box | quote = I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place. I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level. | source=— Tutu in 2013<ref>{{cite web |date=26 July 2013 |title=Archbishop Tutu 'would not worship a homophobic God' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23464694 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308025146/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23464694 |archive-date=8 March 2017 |access-date=25 May 2018 |website=BBC News}}</ref> | align = right | width = 25em }} Post-apartheid, Tutu's status as a [[gay rights]] activist kept him in the public eye more than any other [[Anglican views of homosexuality|issue facing the Anglican Church]];{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=372}} his views on the issue became well known through his speeches and sermons.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=373}} Tutu equated discrimination against homosexuals with discrimination against black people and women.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=372}} After the 1998 Lambeth Conference of bishops reaffirmed the church's opposition to same-sex sexual acts, Tutu stated that he was "ashamed to be an Anglican."{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=372–373}} He thought Archbishop of Canterbury [[Rowan Williams]] was too accommodating towards Anglican conservatives who wanted to eject North American Anglican churches from the [[Anglican Communion]] after they expressed a pro-gay rights stance.{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=373–374}} In 2007, Tutu accused the church of being obsessed with homosexuality, declaring: "If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."<ref>{{cite news |date=18 November 2007 |title=Desmond Tutu chides Church for gay stance |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7100295.stm |access-date=25 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102004948/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7100295.stm |archive-date=2 January 2009}}</ref> [[File:Archbishop Desmond Tutu gets an HIV test on The Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation's Tutu Tester, a mobile test unit that brings healthcare right to your doorstep.jpg|thumb|left|Tutu gets an HIV test on the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation's Tutu Tester, a mobile test unit]] Tutu also spoke out on the need to combat the [[HIV/AIDS]] pandemic, in June 2003 stating that "Apartheid tried to destroy our people and apartheid failed. If we don't act against HIV-AIDS, it may succeed, for it is already decimating our population."{{sfn|Gish|2004|p=166}} On the April 2005 election of [[Pope Benedict XVI]]—who was known for his conservative views on issues of gender and sexuality—Tutu described it as unfortunate that the [[Roman Catholic Church]] was now unlikely to change either its opposition to the use of [[condoms]] "amidst the fight against HIV/AIDS" or its opposition to the ordination of women priests.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 April 2005 |title=Africans hail conservative Pope |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4463873.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313044706/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4463873.stm |archive-date=13 March 2017 |access-date=26 May 2006 |website=BBC News}}</ref> To help combat child trafficking, in 2006 Tutu launched a global campaign, organised by the aid organisation [[Plan (aid organisation)|Plan]], to ensure that all children are registered at birth.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 February 2005 |title=Tutu calls for child registration |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4289393.stm |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007233951/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4289393.stm |archive-date=7 October 2013}}</ref> Tutu retained his interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and after the signing of the [[Oslo Accords]] was invited to [[Tel Aviv]] to attend the [[Peres Center for Peace]].{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=388}} He became increasingly frustrated following the collapse of the [[2000 Camp David Summit]],{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=388}} and in 2002 gave a widely publicised speech denouncing Israeli policy regarding the Palestinians and calling for sanctions against Israel.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=388}} Comparing the Israeli-Palestinian situation with that in South Africa, he said that "one reason we succeeded in South Africa that is missing in the Middle East is quality of leadership – leaders willing to make unpopular compromises, to go against their own constituencies, because they have the wisdom to see that would ultimately make peace possible."{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=388}} Tutu was named to head a United Nations fact-finding mission to [[Beit Hanoun]] in the Gaza Strip to investigate the [[Beit Hanoun November 2006 incident|November 2006 incident]] in which soldiers from the [[Israel Defense Forces]] killed 19 civilians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacob Slosberg |date=29 November 2006 |title=Tutu to head UN rights mission to Gaza |url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Tutu-to-head-UN-rights-mission-to-Gaza |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319215130/https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Tutu-to-head-UN-rights-mission-to-Gaza |archive-date=19 March 2018 |access-date=10 June 2018 |website=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> Israeli officials expressed concern that the report would be biased against Israel. Tutu cancelled the trip in mid-December, saying that Israel had refused to grant him the necessary travel clearance after more than a week of discussions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 December 2006 |title=Israel 'blocks Tutu Gaza mission' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6168309.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070117025239/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6168309.stm |archive-date=17 January 2007 |access-date=10 June 2018 |website=BBC News}}</ref> [[File:The Elders (7492963126).jpg|thumb|right|Tutu with former Irish president [[Mary Robinson]], British foreign secretary [[William Hague]], and former US president Jimmy Carter in 2012]] In 2003, Tutu was the scholar in residence at the [[University of North Florida]].{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=388}} It was there, in February, that he broke his normal rule on not joining protests outside South Africa by taking part in a New York City demonstration against plans for the United States to launch the [[Iraq War]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gish|1y=2004|1p=164|2a1=Allen|2y=2006|2pp=388–389}} He telephoned [[Condoleezza Rice]] urging the United States government not to go to war without a resolution from the [[United Nations Security Council]].{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=389}} Tutu questioned why Iraq was being singled out for allegedly possessing [[weapons of mass destruction]] when Europe, India, and Pakistan also had many such devices.<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 January 2003 |title=Tutu condemns Blair's Iraq stance |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2628607.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060604020148/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2628607.stm |archive-date=4 June 2006 |access-date=23 January 2008 |website=BBC News}}</ref> In 2004, he appeared in ''[[Honor Bound to Defend Freedom]]'', an [[Off Broadway]] play in New York City critical of the American detention of prisoners at [[Guantánamo Bay, Cuba|Guantánamo Bay]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeremy Cooke |date=2 October 2004 |title=Tutu in anti-Guantanamo theatre |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3709288.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525193742/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3709288.stm |archive-date=25 May 2018 |access-date=23 January 2008 |website=BBC News}}</ref> In January 2005, he added his voice to the growing dissent over terrorist suspects held at Guantánamo's [[Camp X-Ray]], stating that these detentions without trial were "utterly unacceptable" and comparable to the apartheid-era detentions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 January 2005 |title=Tutu calls for Guantanamo release |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4167369.stm |access-date=22 January 2008 |website=BBC News}}</ref> He also criticised the UK's introduction of measures to detain terrorist subjects for 28 days without trial.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 February 2006 |title=Tutu calls for Guantanamo closure |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4723512.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222190031/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4723512.stm |archive-date=22 February 2009 |access-date=22 January 2008 |website=BBC News}}</ref> In 2012, he called for US President [[George W. Bush]] and British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] to be tried by the [[International Criminal Court]] for initiating the Iraq War.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 September 2012 |title=Desmond Tutu calls for Blair and Bush to be tried over Iraq |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19454562 |access-date=25 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102133206/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19454562 |archive-date=2 November 2017}}</ref> In 2004, he gave the inaugural lecture at the Church of Christ the King, where he commended the achievements made in South Africa over the previous decade although warned of widening wealth disparity among its population.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=392}} He questioned the government's spending on armaments, its policy regarding [[Robert Mugabe]]'s government in Zimbabwe, and the manner in which [[Nguni languages|Nguni-speakers]] dominated senior positions, stating that this latter issue would stoke ethnic tensions.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=392}} He made the same points three months later when giving the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture in Johannesburg.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=392}} There, he charged the ANC under [[Thabo Mbeki]]'s leadership of demanding "sycophantic, obsequious conformity" among its members.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=393}} Tutu and Mbeki had long had a strained relationship; Mbeki had accused Tutu of criminalising the ANC's military struggle against apartheid through the TRC, while Tutu disliked Mbeki's active neglect of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=393}} Like Mandela before him, Mbeki accused Tutu of being a populist, further claiming that the cleric had no understanding of the ANC's inner workings.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=393}} Tutu later criticised ANC leader and South African President [[Jacob Zuma]]. In 2006, he criticised Zuma's "moral failings" as a result of accusations of rape and corruption that he was facing.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 September 2006 |title=S Africa is losing its way – Tutu |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5384310.stm |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308122917/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5384310.stm |archive-date=8 March 2008}}</ref> In 2007, he again criticised South Africa's policy of "quiet diplomacy" toward Mugabe's government, calling for the [[Southern Africa Development Community]] to chair talks between Mugabe's [[ZANU-PF]] and the opposition [[Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai|Movement for Democratic Change]], to set firm deadlines for action, with consequences if they were not met.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Thornycroft |first1=Peta |last2=Berger |first2=Sebastien |date=19 September 2007 |title=Zimbabwe needs your help, Tutu tells Brown |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/19/wtutu119.xml |url-status=dead |access-date=4 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117030314/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F09%2F19%2Fwtutu119.xml |archive-date=17 November 2007}}</ref> In 2008, he called for a [[United Nations peacekeeping|UN Peacekeeping]] force to be sent to Zimbabwe.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 June 2008 |title=Tutu urges Zimbabwe intervention |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7479696.stm |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224125214/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7479696.stm |archive-date=24 December 2008}}</ref> [[File:Dalai Lama and Bishop Tutu. Carey Linde.jpg|thumb|250 px|left|Tutu with the Dalai Lama, both Nobel Peace Prize laureates, in [[Vancouver]], British Columbia, in 2004]] Before the [[31st G8 summit]] at [[Gleneagles (Scotland)|Gleneagles, Scotland]], in 2005, Tutu called on world leaders to promote free trade with poorer countries and to end expensive taxes on anti-AIDS drugs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 March 2005 |title=Archbishop Tutu calls for G8 help |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4356821.stm |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230062048/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4356821.stm |archive-date=30 December 2017}}</ref> In July 2007, Tutu was declared Chair of [[The Elders (organization)|The Elders]], a group of world leaders put together to contribute their wisdom, kindness, leadership, and integrity to tackle some of the world's toughest problems.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 July 2007 |title=Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu announce The Elders |url=http://theelders.org/article/nelson-mandela-and-desmond-tutu-announce-elders |access-date=11 March 2013 |publisher=TheElders.org |archive-date=2 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002064243/http://theelders.org/article/nelson-mandela-and-desmond-tutu-announce-elders |url-status=dead }}</ref> Tutu served in this capacity until May 2013. Upon stepping down and becoming an Honorary Elder, he said: "As Elders we should always oppose presidents for Life. After six wonderful years as Chair, I am sad to say that it was time for me to step down."<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 May 2013 |title=Kofi Annan appointed Chair of The Elders |url=http://www.theelders.org/article/kofi-annan-appointed-chair-elders |access-date=23 May 2013 |publisher=TheElders.org}}</ref> Tutu led The Elders' visit to Sudan in October 2007 – their first mission after the group was founded – to foster peace in the [[Darfur crisis]]. "Our hope is that we can keep [[Darfur]] in the spotlight and spur on governments to help keep peace in the region", said Tutu.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 December 2007 |title=Tutu denounces rights abuses |url=http://www.news24.com/World/News/Tutu-denounces-rights-abuses-20071210 |access-date=11 March 2013 |publisher=News24}}</ref> He has also travelled with Elders delegations to Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Ethiopia, India, South Sudan, and the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Desmond Tutu |url=http://www.theelders.org/desmond-tutu |access-date=7 March 2013 |publisher=TheElders.org}}</ref> Tutu's [[Nobel Prize medal]] was stolen in June 2007 from his home in Johannesburg, but was recovered a week later.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/police-return-tutus-stolen-nobel-medal-20070617-iv3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230726121156/https://www.smh.com.au/world/police-return-tutus-stolen-nobel-medal-20070617-iv3.html|title=Police return Tutu's stolen Nobel medal|work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|archive-date=26 July 2023|access-date=26 July 2023|date=17 June 2007}}</ref> During the [[2008 Tibetan unrest]], Tutu marched in a pro-Tibet demonstration in San Francisco; there, he called on heads of states to boycott the [[2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony]] in Beijing "for the sake of the beautiful people of [[Tibet]]".<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 April 2008 |title=San Francisco set for torch relay |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7337925.stm |access-date=9 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413062507/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7337925.stm |archive-date=13 April 2008}}</ref> Tutu invited the [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] leader, the [[14th Dalai Lama]], to attend his 80th birthday in October 2011, although the South African government did not grant him entry; observers suggested that they had not given permission so as not to offend the People's Republic of China, a major trading partner.<ref>{{Cite news |last=David Smith |date=4 October 2011 |title=Dalai Lama forced to pull out of Desmond Tutu birthday in visa dispute |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/04/dalai-lama-desmond-tutu-visa |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216155551/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/04/dalai-lama-desmond-tutu-visa |archive-date=16 February 2017}}</ref> In 2009, Tutu assisted in the establishing of the Solomon Islands' [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Solomon Islands)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]], modelled after the South African body of the same name.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rowan Callick |date=29 April 2009 |title=Solomon Islands gets Desmond Tutu truth help |work=The Australian |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/solomons-gets-tutu-truth-help/news-story/dde524403c1c627316739af4ddc6cf5c?sv=ec104d5ddd5ae12fbf3d2037b102a22f |access-date=10 June 2018}}</ref> He also attended the [[2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference]] in Copenhagen,<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 October 2009 |title=International day of demonstrations on climate change |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/24/international.climate.change.demonstrations/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013237/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/24/international.climate.change.demonstrations/ |archive-date=7 November 2017 |access-date=10 June 2018 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> and later publicly called for [[fossil fuel divestment]], comparing it to disinvestment from apartheid-era South Africa.<ref name="We need an apartheid-style boycott to save the planet">{{Cite news |last=Desmond Tutu |title=We need an apartheid-style boycott to save the planet |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/10/divest-fossil-fuels-climate-change-keystone-xl |access-date=24 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307184343/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/10/divest-fossil-fuels-climate-change-keystone-xl |archive-date=7 March 2018}}</ref> Tutu appeared as a guest on the American talk show ''[[The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson]]'' on March 4, 2009, an episode that earned the program a [[Peabody Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: An Evening with Archbishop Desmond Tutu |url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/the-late-late-show-with-craig-ferguson-an-evening-with-archbishop-desmond-t/ |access-date=2024-02-11 |website=PeabodyAwards.com}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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