Cape Town - Speaking to the public for the first time since he was hospitalised, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said he was touched by a prayer service held for him on Sunday and for all the well wishes he has been receiving.
Tutu spoke, via a recorded audio clip, to members of the congregation of the Church of the Resurrection in Bonteheuwel where a prayer service was held for him and ailing Bishop Emeritus Charles Albertyn.
Tutu was discharged from hospital last Friday after a third visit to hospital in quick succession.
He had been in and out of hospital since July for antibiotic treatment for a persistent infection, unrelated to the prostate cancer he has been living with for the past 15 years.
In the voice clip Tutu said he was better and that he was grateful for the “very good” medical care he was receiving and the prayers.
“I am so very touched that you called this prayer meeting, whether there are 10 people or 100 000 is not important,” he said.
“The important thing is that people are upholding and I have come to realise more and more how dependent we are on one another.”
Tutu had time for his trademark brand of humour while speaking with Archbishop Thabo Makgoba on the clip, saying the messages made him blush.
“Fortunately, you can’t see when we are blushing,” he said.
“I discovered that when I didn’t go through the forms that I set for myself and prayers that I wanted to pray that almost invariably something goes wrong.
“I am not as sharp as I would have been otherwise. I am not as gentle as I would otherwise have been and you learn that yes, you rely utterly and completely on God and that God is reliable and is always waiting for us to turn to God.”
Tutu’s daughter, Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu, was among those in attendance and said the service was “beautiful”. She commended the St Cyprian Girl’s choir, Fezeka High school choir, and the singing of the Jazz Yard Academy.
“It was wonderful, especially to see the choirs, and have the young people come and offer their voices and talents in prayer and support for my family and the Albertyn family as we live through this healing process,” she said.
Mpho lit a candle for her father and Albertyn and two other candles were lit in the fight against global warming and for the African continent.
She added that her mother, Leah, was delighted to have Tutu back at home.
“She is thrilled to have him back at home. They enjoy each other’s company so they get really lonely when they are apart,” she said.
Albertyn has been in hospital since last month with pneumonia.
Canon Rowan Smith said Albertyn has since been put on a ventilator to help him breathe.
Smith said Albertyn’s family was not able to attend the service as they were with him at the hospital.
Cape Argus