Archbishop Desmond Tutu Returns to Southwark Cathedral to Mark Ten Years Since South African Free Elections

23 Apr 2004

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu will lead the 11.00am Eucharist service at Southwark Cathedral on Sunday 25 April. The service will mark the tenth anniversary of free, democratic elections in South Africa, and the end of apartheid.

The 73-year old Archbishop Emeritus will take part in the Cathedral service to mark his long-standing relationship with the Diocese of Southwark, which he has enjoyed ever since he served a curacy in the Diocese in the 1960s.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been on a visiting lectureship at King's College London and preached at Southwark Cathedral earlier this year, in February. He spoke then to a packed Cathedral on the importance of tolerance towards the vulnerable.

This Sunday's tenth anniversary service will include music and dance items from a number of musicians and performers, including a group of singers from South Africa.

The Very Rev Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark, who recently spent three months in South Africa, will be preaching at the service. He said: "It is a great honour for us to receive this visit from Archbishop Tutu, on this occasion that marks the tenth anniversary of the most significant moment in the history of South Africa and of human rights across the world."

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Notes for Editor

The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation was established to advance the philosophy and practices of Archbishop Desmond Tutu through leadership academies in the United States and Africa. The academies focus on developing emerging leaders who act for peace, reconciliation and restorative justice.