ANDOVER, Mass.—Archbishop Desmond Tutu, recipient of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, will discuss "The Pursuit of International Justice" at a special interfaith service at 11 a.m. Sunday, May 18, in Cochran Chapel, Chapel Avenue, on the Phillips Academy campus. Open to the public, the service will include musical selections by the Academy Symphony Orchestra and the Phillips Academy Gospel Choir, as well as readings from the Old and New Testaments and the Koran. No tickets are needed for this free event.

Ordained in the priesthood of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa in 1961, Tutu became a national and international figure when, in the wake of the 1976 Soweto uprising, he was appointed general secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC). He pursued the goals of justice and reconciliation with vigor and commitment, and under his direction from 1978-1985, the SACC became a vital institution of South African spiritual and political life, providing assistance to the victims of apartheid. Tutu spoke out against the injustice of the system, and his contribution to the cause of racial justice in South Africa was recognized when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Working to bridge the chasm between black and white Anglicans in South Africa, Tutu was installed in 1985 as the first black Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg. A year later, he was elected the first black Archbishop of Cape Town, becoming the head of the Anglican Church in South Africa.

He was appointed by South African President Nelson Mandela to head the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995, which marked yet another significant step in the struggle for justice both in South Africa and the world. Currently chancellor of the University of the Western Cape and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Tutu is working on two books, one chronicling the work of the Truth and the Reconciliation Commission and the other, transfiguration.

His visit to Phillips Academy is supported by the school's Palitz Fund and Kemper Fund.

Click here for more information on Archbishop Tutu's life.