Retired archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday, was admitted to a Cape Town hospital for a persistent infection, his South African foundation said.
The foundation, which is named after 83-year-old Tutu and his wife Leah, quoted their daughter Mpho as saying the family hopes the Nobel Peace Prize laureate will be able to return home in a “day or two.”
Desmond Tutu has been treated for prostate cancer for many years. He announced his retirement from public life in 2011 but has still traveled widely and made public appearances.
Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1984 for campaigning against apartheid, renewed his wedding vows with Leah earlier this month after 60 years of marriage. The family held ceremonies in Cape Town and Johannesburg to mark the occasion.
The family hopes he will be able to return home “in a day or two”, his daughter said in an earlier statement.
An Associated Press reporter attended the Johannesburg ceremony in the Holy Cross Anglican Church in the city’s Soweto area, where Tutu used to live. Tutu danced stiffly as choristers sang and was frequently on his feet, thanking the congregants at the end of the three-hour event. At other times, he sat with his eyes closed.
Desmond Tutu Biography
- Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid.
- Born: October 7, 1931 (age 83), Klerksdorp, South Africa
- Nationality: South African
- Spouse: Nomalizo Leah Shenxane (m. 1955)
- Awards: Nobel Peace Prize, Gandhi Peace Prize, More
- Children: Theresa Thandeka Tutu, Mpho Andrea Tutu, Naomi Nontombi Tutu, Trevor Thamsanqa Tutu
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