US President Joe Biden leads tributes after death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Queen Elizabeth, Barack Obama and Pope Francis celebrate life of anti-apartheid campaigner

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  Former US president Barack Obama with Archbishop Desmond Tutu after a tour of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation Youth Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. The anti-Apartheid activist has died at the age of 90. AFP

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  Tutu meets Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at a Commonwealth Day reception in London, with Sir Shridath Ramphal, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, looking on. PA

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  FILE - Former South African President Nelson Mandela, right, reacts with Archbishop Desmond Tutu during the launch of a Walter and Albertina Sisulu exhibition, called, 'Parenting a Nation', at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, March 12, 2008. Tutu, South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBT rights and the retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has died at the age of 90, it was announced on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. An uncompromising foe of apartheid, South Africa's brutal regime of oppression again the Black majority, Tutu worked tirelessly, but non-violently, for its downfall. (AP Photo / Themba Hadebe, File)

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  Tutu meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican City in 1980. AP

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  Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu greets Archbishop Thabo Makgoba during Christmas Midnight Mass at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018. Reuters

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  With US television host Oprah Winfrey during the opening of an independent movie house chain, owned by renowned producer Anant Singh, looking on in the background. AFP

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  Handing over the Truth and Reconcilliation Report to then South African president Thabo Mbeki, in Pretoria. AFP

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  With former Fifa president Joseph Blatter in Zurich, Switzerland. Tutu won the Fifa presidential award in 2010. AP

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  Sharing a joke with the Dalai Lama. Reuters

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  With former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon in 2007. AFP

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  Tutu displays an "End Apartheid" T-shirt at New York's City Hall in 1986. AP

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  Catching up with Irish singer Bob Geldof at the One Young World Summit in London, 2010. PA

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  The former leader of Northern Ireland's Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, meets Tutu in Belfast. PA

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  Britain's Prince Harry, now known as the Duke of Sussex, shakes hands with Tutu as he arrives at Westminster Abbey in London for a memorial service for the former South African president Nelson Mandela. PA

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  Former US president Ronald Reagan meets the anti-Apartheid activist at the White House in 1984. AP

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  Tutu receives the Martin Luther King Jr Peace Prize from Coretta Scott King, left, and Christine King Farris, King's sister, centre, during an ecumenical service at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was pastor in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1986. AP

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  With France's former prime minister Laurent Fabius in Paris, 1985. AFP

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  The archbishop with Prince Albert II of Monaco in 2014. AFP

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  South Africa's former president Frederik Willem de Klerk shakes hands with Tutu at signing of the historic National Peace accord in 1991. AFP

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  Tutu with The Elders, from left to right, Graca Machel, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson, Kofi Annan, Gro Brundtland, Martti Ahtisaari, Ela Bhatt, Lakhdar Brahimi and Nelson Mandela (seated) in 2010. Getty Images

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  Tutu kisses Archie Mountbatten-Windsor on the head as he is held by his mother, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during their royal tour of South Africa in 2019. Getty Images

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  With Dr George Carney, former Archbishop of Canterbury on his arrival before the retirement Mass for Tutu in Cape Town. Reuters

World leaders have paid tribute to Archbishop Desmond Tutu after his death at the age of 90.

US President Joe Biden praised the “courage and moral clarity” of the South African anti-apartheid campaigner, who died on Sunday in Cape Town.

Queen Elizabeth, Barack Obama and Pope Francis also paid tribute to Tutu, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in helping to end Apartheid in South Africa.

“On this morning after Christmas, we are heart-broken to learn of the passing of a true servant of God and of the people, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa,” said President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden.

“We were blessed to spend time with him on several occasions over the past many years. His courage and moral clarity helped inspire our commitment to change American policy towards the repressive Apartheid regime in South Africa.

“We felt his warmth and joy when we visited him during the 2010 World Cup that celebrated the diversity and beauty of his beloved nation. And, just a few months ago, we joined the world in celebrating his 90th birthday and reflecting on the power of his message of justice, equality, truth, and reconciliation as we confront racism and extremism in our time today.

“On behalf of the Biden family, we send our deepest condolences to his wife Leah and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And on behalf of the people of the United States, we send our deepest condolences to the people of South Africa who are mourning the loss of one of their most important founding fathers.

“May God bless Archbishop Desmond Tutu.”

Former US President Obama called Tutu “a mentor, a friend and a moral compass for me and so many others”.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu meets with then US senator Barack Obama in 2006 in Cape Town. Photo: AFP

He said: “A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere.

"He never lost his impish sense of humour and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries, and Michelle and I will miss him dearly."

The UK's Queen Elizabeth remembered Tutu’s “great warmth and humour”. She said: "I am joined by the whole royal family in being deeply saddened by the news of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a man who tirelessly championed human rights in South Africa and across the world.

"Archbishop Tutu’s loss will be felt by the people of South Africa, and by so many people in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and across the Commonwealth, where he was held in such high affection and esteem."

Queen Elizabeth II meeting the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu at a Commonwealth Day Reception at Marlborough House, London, in 1987, with Sir Shridath Ramphal, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, looking on. Photo: PA

The Vatican said Pope Francis was “saddened” to learn of Tutu’s death. “Mindful of his service to the gospel through the promotion of racial equality and reconciliation in his native South Africa, his Holiness commends his soul to the loving mercy of Almighty God," it said.

US Vice President Kamala Harris said Tutu “inspired millions, not just in South Africa, but worldwide to stand with those fighting for freedom and justice."

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said of Tutu: "His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberator futures for human societies. He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd."

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, right, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2008. Photo: AP

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called Tutu “a towering global figure for peace and justice, voice of the voiceless and inspiration to people everywhere”.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "He was a critical figure in the fight against Apartheid and in the struggle to create a new South Africa - and will be remembered for his spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humour."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Tutu an "extraordinary leader who joyously devoted his life to celebrating and advancing human dignity, justice and morality".

Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop Of Cape Town said Tutu's legacy was "moral strength, moral courage and clarity".

"He felt with the people. In public and alone, he cried because he felt people's pain. And he laughed – no, not just laughed, he cackled with delight when he shared their joy," he said.