South Africa says goodbye to Tutu, the body will be liquefied

South Africa gave its final farewell to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the leaders of the struggle that put an end to apartheid, as well as a champion of human rights and the environment at a global level.

The funeral ceremony for Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who died last Sunday at the age of 90, took place in a solemn form, reserved for heads of state, in the Anglican Cathedral of St. George in Cape Town, where about a hundred people were present. the maximum allowed by anti-Covid regulations.

    In his eulogy in front of Tutu's coffin, a light wooden chest with no frills (he had asked for "the cheapest chest available" in his last wishes), South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called the archbishop "the spiritual father of our new nation. ". "He was a crusader in the struggle for freedom, justice, equality and peace - said the president - not only in South Africa, but throughout the world". The late Nobel laureate - Archbishop Tutu IP Trust and the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said - had also requested that the only flowers next to the coffin were "a bouquet of carnations brought by his family".

    "If we want to understand how a global icon can be someone of great moral stature, of exceptional quality, in the service of humanity, there is no doubt: we must think of the man we are buried today," continued Ramaphosa.

    Tutu's daughter, Mpho, thanked those present and all those who followed the ceremony on TV "for having loved our father. We shared him with the world, we also share the love you had for him. So I want to thank you" . Also present were former Irish president Mary Robinson and Graca Machel, widow of Nelson Mandela, who led the battle against apartheid with Tutu until its defeat in 1991.

    They both read prayers. However, there was no great friend of Tutu, the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, who was unable to reach Cape Town due to travel restrictions imposed by Covid and health problems related to old age.

    And to also respect Tutu's commitment to the environmental cause, the archbishop's body will be liquefied, or subjected to a chemical process considered an ecological alternative to cremation, as it does not produce emissions and uses less energy: the BBC reports. . It was "what he aspired to as an eco-warrior," said Reverend Michael Weeder, dean of St. George's Cathedral. According to the so-called 'aquamation' or 'aquatic cremation' technique, the body is 'dissolved' in a potassium hydroxide solution at a temperature of 93 degrees centigrade with a process called alkaline hydrolysis which lasts 3-4 hours. At the end the bones remain, which are reduced to dust, then placed in an urn,and the liquid resulting from the dissolution of the tissues is disposed of without any particular precautions.

    Tutu's urn with bone powders will be interred behind the pulpit of the cathedral, where he served as archbishop for 35 years.

When Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994, Tutu was appointed head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated crimes committed by whites, as well as blacks, during the apartheid period.

It was he who coined the definition of 'Rainbow Nation' to define the ethnically mixed nature of post-segregation South Africa, although years later he regretted that that mixing did not come about in the way he would have hoped for.

(HANDLE).