Research Paper On Desmond Tutu

Group Members: Jonathan Cen, Guanyu Chen, Xianghe Huang

Google Site Link: https://sites.google.com/stfrancisprep.org/desmondtutu2017

Desmond Tutu, a Christian Hero

Born on October 7th, 1931, Demond Apilo Tutu is one of the most prominent figures in South Africa. Originally from Klerksdorp, Transvaal, Tutu is the first black Archbishop of Cape Town and also the bishop of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. Although most famous for his opposition to apartheid, Tutu is also a passionate advocate for fighting widespread diseases in Africa, erasing racial discrimination, and maintaining world peace.

Tutu was born in a middle-class family, with a teacher father and a cook mother. He was inspired by Trevor Huddleston, a white parish priest

Being a survivor of tuberculosis, Tutu understands how crucial tuberculosis treatment and prevention are to the health of South Africans. Therefore, he has become a fervent proponent of tuberculosis control around the globe. In 2004, Desmond Tutu became a patron in a tuberculosis research center at Stellenbosch University and the Center was later renamed The Desmond Tutu Tuberculosis Center in his honor. Given that South Africa has the fourth highest tuberculosis rate in the world, this Center was designed to built on known research, train young biologists, and educate local communities in all aspects of tuberculosis. Moreover, Tutu has been supporting and participating in the Action Partners, trying to allocate resources for Tuberculosis

He served as Chair of the Elders to resolve world’s urgent issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During his presidency, Tutu led the Elder’s visit to Sudan in order to broker peace in the Darfur Crisis. Meanwhile, Tutu denounced the armed conflict between Israel and Palestine. Tutu once said in his 1989 trip to Israel’s Yad Vashem Museum, “Our Lord would say that in the end the positive thing that can come is the spirit of forgiving, not forgetting, but the spirit of saying.” Later in 2004, Tutu joined The Forgiveness Project to further facilitate conflict resolutions and stop world violence.

In 1984, Desmond Tutu won the Nobel peace prize for his efforts in ending the apartheid system and the Committee of the Nobel Prize praised him as “a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the the problem of apartheid in South Africa.” In the same year, Tutu was granted the Pacem in Terris Award, which is a Catholic peace award that honors a person who has achieved worldwide peace and justice. In addition, Tutu won the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999 and the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 for his outstanding accomplishment of helping end