ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606240096
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
SOURCE: Associated Press
Kings, presidents and clergy celebrated Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Sunday for his struggle against apartheid, and looked to him to champion justice in a new role.
``His laughter ringing out has given courage and confidence to a downtrodden people,'' Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said at a service that marked Tutu's retirement as head of the Anglican church in South Africa.
Tutu, the first black archbishop of Cape Town, rose to international prominence during the 1980s as the voice of the anti-apartheid struggle, winning the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1989, Tutu led a now legendary anti-apartheid march from St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town, where his retirement ceremony was held Sunday.
After a decade as archbishop, Tutu now will devote himself to leading a commission formed by the country's first black-led government to expose apartheid-era crimes.
Among the dignitaries crowded within the high stone walls of the cathedral on Sunday were President Nelson Mandela, Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano and Lesotho's King Letsie.
Onlookers cheered and ululated as Mandela bestowed a government award of merit on Tutu during the retirement service, which was carried live on state television.
``He speaks his mind on matters of public morality,'' Mandela said. ``As a result, he annoyed many of the leaders of the apartheid system. Nor has he spared those that followed him. Such independence of mind ... is vital to a thriving democracy.''
Tutu devoted most of his own remarks to expressing gratitude to those in attendance. ``Thank you, thank you, thank you, all of you,'' he said, displaying the exuberance that has made him a beloved figure in South Africa.
The service alternated between solemn prayers and upbeat song - including one hymn spirited enough to get Tutu dancing in his white robe, which was embroidered with gold crosses.
Tutu opened Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in April, beginning an emotional journey into the torture, bombings and riots of the apartheid era.
The 17-member commission is investigating political crimes committed by all sides during three decades of white-minority rule, and will recommend amnesty for those making full confessions and suggest ways of compensating victims.
The job will delay by at least two years Tutu's plans to retire to Georgia to spend time with his family, work on his memoirs and join the faculty of Atlanta's Emory University.
Tutu's successor, the Rev. Njongonkulu Ndungane, will be formally installed in September.
Njongonkulu, a former member of the Pan Africanist Congress, a black militant group, was jailed for activism against South Africa's former white rulers. Njongonkulu said he received his calling to join the church while being held at Robben Island, the prison where Mandela spent most of his 27 years in jail.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Retiring Archbishop Desmond Tutu (right) of Capeby CNBTown greets President Nelson Mandela as he arrives at Sunday's
service to celebrate the end of Tutu's tenure as leader of the
Anglican Church in South Africa.