South Africa’s Tutu celebrates 40 years of service as bishop

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu takes part in a Mass as Tutu celebrates four decades of episcopal ministry at a special thanksgiving Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg, Sunday July 10, 2016. Tutu served as Dean of St Mary’s prior to being appointed Bishop of Lesotho 40 years ago and was instrumental in ending apartheid in the country. (Denis Farrell/Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG — Nobel peace prize winner Desmond Tutu on Sunday celebrated four decades of service as a bishop at a mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral and central Johannesburg.

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Tutu, 84, was dean at St. Mary’s when he was appointed bishop of Lesotho 40 years ago. Tutu later became the first black archbishop of Cape Town where he was an outspoken opponent of South Africa’s apartheid regime, which enforced a harsh system of racial discrimination. Tutu was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1984.