Mpho Tutu Van Furth

Mpho Andrea Tutu van Furth (born 1963) is a South African Anglican priest, author and activist. She is the daughter of Leah and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She coauthored two books with her father, and a biography about him with journalist Allister Sparks. She was ordained in 2003, but due to the regulations of the Anglican Church of South Africa, she was not permitted to function as a priest in the church after marrying a woman in 2015. In 2022 she began preaching in Amsterdam.

Biography

Early life

Mpho Andrea Tutu was born in London to Nomalizo Tutu, a South African activist, and Desmond Tutu, an Anglican bishop. Both her parents are known for their work as anti-apartheid and human rights activists. Tutu has three siblings: Trevor Thamsanqa, Theresa Thandeka and Naomi Nontombi. She was 31 years old when apartheid ended in 1994.

As a child, Tutu had no desire to follow in her father's footprints as a priest and later described her path to the ministry as taking the "scenic route" and said she felt God calling her into the profession.

Career

Tutu van Furth was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 2003. Before her ordination, she was the director of the Discovery Program at All Saints Church in Worcester, Massachusetts. She received her master's degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and after her ordination she began preaching at the historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.Mpho Tutu van Furth
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Tutu van Furth has co-authored a number of books including ''Made for Goodness: And Why This Makes All the Difference'', ''The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World'' and ''Tutu: The Authorised Portrait''; The former two books were written with her father and the latter with journalist Allister Sparks. She has been an outspoken advocate for the importance of forgiveness. She made news for forgiving the murderer of her housekeeper in 2012. She and her father have advocated for forgiveness in the wake of racial tensions and police shootings in the United States. As a public speaker, she has shared the stage with The 14th Dalai Lama, Eckhart Tolle, Ken Robinson and others.

Tutu van Furth was the founding director of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and served as executive director from 2011 to 2016.

On 30 January 2022, Mpho Tutu van Furth was confirmed as pastor of Vrijburg, a church in Amsterdam, by the reverend Joost Röselaers.

Marriage and controversy

In 2015, Tutu married , a Dutch professor of medicine, and moved to Amstelveen in the Netherlands. Shortly after the marriage, the Diocese of Saldanha Bay withdrew her license as a priest. Both of her parents were supportive of her marriage. According to the BBC
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