Archbishop Desmond Tutu has passed away at the age of 90 in South Africa.
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The news of Tutu’s passing was confirmed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who offered his condolences to his family and close friends. He writes, ”A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world. Tutu was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and later the Presidential Medal Of Freedom in 2009 from Former President Barack Obama.
According to CNN, Tutu has had multiple health issues for years and was in and out of hospitals since 2013.
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Tutu also worked alongside Nelson Mandela in the movement and was named chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission after Mandela became president. The Nelson Mandela Foundation also released a statement about the leader’s passing.
“He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing,” the foundation said in a statement. “His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies.”