Desmond Tutu laid to rest at state funeral in South Africa
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was expected to deliver the main eulogy and Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba was presiding over the service at St. George’s Cathedral on Saturday.
Tutu’s body will be cremated in a private ceremony after Saturday’s requiem mass and will then be interred behind the pulpit at the cathedral.
For decades, Tutu was one of the primary voices pushing the South African government to end apartheid, the country’s official policy of racial segregation. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, before apartheid ended in the early 1990s and the long-imprisoned Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first Black president.
The revered anti-apartheid fighter will be remembered as one of the most important voices of the 20th century. However, his funeral was set to be subdued: Before he died, Tutu asked for a simple service, according to two of his foundations.
“He wanted no ostentatiousness or lavish spending. He asked that the coffin be the cheapest available, and that a bouquet of carnations from his family be the only flowers in the cathedral,” they said.
Tutu’s funeral was also limited to just 100 people, in line with current South African government Covid-19 regulations. St George’s Cathedral has appealed to South Africans to attend the services in their local communities instead of traveling to Cape Town.
Events were planned throughout the country to give South Africans the opportunity to collectively mourn ‘”the Arch,” as he was known, while still practicing social distancing.
A week-long remembrance began Monday with the ringing of the bells at St. George’s Cathedral, a church famous for its role in the resistance against apartheid rule. St. George’s held a special place in the late archbishop’s heart, so much so that he requested…
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Source : cnn
