From the Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town
It is wonderful news that Archbishop Desmond Tutu has won the Templeton Prize. I offer hearty congratulations on behalf of the whole Anglican Church of Southern Africa. We fully endorse the Foundation’s view that he has made “exceptional contributions to exemplifying a new and larger, living model of the benefits of religion and spiritual progress.”
Archbishop Desmond is one of the spiritual giants of our times — though he will tease me for saying so, given that I am so much taller than him! The greatest lesson we should learn from him is that his life is steeped in prayer, and these deep wells resource all that he does, giving him a particular gift for expressing profound truths with great simplicity. During our darkest, bleakest, hours, he was able to see the bigger picture — the picture that we remember in this Easter season, that good will always prevail — and so he gave us a vision of hope for abundant life for everyone, transformed through God’s promises. It is a vision with which he continues to challenge the whole world today. We need to hear that challenge, and I hope this prize will encourage him to keep on raising his voice where it needs to be heard.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
