Your informative obituary of Archbishop Desmond Tutu (26 December) missed an important dimension – his warnings on the need to save the planet. In March 2004, he delivered a lecture entitled God’s Word and World Politics at the United Nations as part of Kofi Annan’s public lecture series on cutting-edge topics in the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and the arts.
The archbishop said: “Ecological concerns are a deeply religious, spiritual matter. To pollute the environment, to be responsible for a disastrous warming, is not just wrong and should be a criminal offence; it is certainly morally wrong. It is a sin.”
Prof Abiodun Williams
Tufts University
• The humanity of Desmond Tutu was a candle of hope in a darkening world. His moral reach was global. His warnings about the future of humankind on the planet remain as true today as when he summarised his thoughts in a Guardian article (This fatal complacency, 5 May 2007). The focus then was on climate disruption; 14 years later, we have added the weight of a 1.5 billion population increase, the actions of failing states and tyrannical governments, and selfish international failure to help our neighbours during this present coronavirus pandemic.
Bob Pike
Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France
• Your obituary focused, understandably, on Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s contribution to peace and reconciliation in South Africa. In the last 15 years of his life, however, he also made a huge contribution to the process of peace elsewhere in the world through his adopted philosophy of Ubuntu, whereby we live through our shared humanity with others.
In the UK, the work of the Tutu Foundation supported the bringing together of young people, especially Black young people in deprived areas, to confront some of the difficulties arising from the over-policing of minority communities through, for example, the disproportionate use of stop and search. It is too early to say what the long-term effects of this work might be, but early signs are encouraging in replacing fear and distrust with openness and engagement as equals.
Prof Gary Craig
York
• I was disappointed that your obituary of Desmond Tutu made no reference to his support for Palestine, and his powerful statement in 2014 when he made a direct comparison between the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories and the apartheid regime in South Africa against which he had fought so hard. Archbishop Tutu was a remarkable and principled man and an inspiration to many. His fight against apartheid and racism was not just confined to one country; he challenged it wherever it occurred.
Ann Kramer
Hastings, East Sussex
• Among all the stories of Desmond Tutu, my favourite is of two friends who visited Cape Town some years ago and attended a service in the cathedral. On leaving, they were greeted by him and asked where they came from. “Worcester,” came the reply. “Ah yes, its lovely cathedral…” “Well, actually, we are Methodists.” Whereupon he placed his arms round their shoulders and pronounced, “I forgive you, my children”, before giving vent to that well-known chuckle.
Elizabeth Dunnett
Malvern, Worcestershire
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