Funeral for Archbishop Tutu to be held Saturday
The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be laid to rest this Saturday with his funeral service getting underway from 10am.
This was revealed during a media briefing just a few minutes ago held jointly by Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and Reverend Michael Weeder, in Cape Town.
Before that his body will lie in state on Friday at the St George's Cathedral, in Cape Town to allow members of the public to bid farewell.
Tutu passed away yesterday at the age of 90. He'd been in and out of hospital previously. News of his passing has saddened the world with messages of condolences coming in from all corners.
Reverend Weeder says they will limit the number of people inside the church at one time, keeping in line with COVID safety protocol.
"We will keep the limit down to a significant number as per COVID regulation. Comfortably the church can hold 500 attendants but we will restrict it to between 200 and 250 people at a time and as people exit we will allow others inside", he said.
Archbishop Makgoba has encouraged those who won't be able to attend to rather take part virtually when proceedings get underway.
"Nowadays we have virtual facilities for those who can't travel. I hope we will be able to hear his voice in one way or the other, at the requiem, memorial service or even after" he said.
A week of mourning has now begun following the passing of Tutu.
It will see the Cape Town's St. George's Cathedral church ringing its bells for 10 minutes every afternoon in tribute to the bishop.
These will be the events leading up to the day of the funeral.
Tomorrow the Diocese of Pretoria and the South African Council of Churches are expected to hold a memorial service in the capital city.
On Thursday evening, the Archbishop Tutu Trust and the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation will host an intimate evening with friends of the Arch and Mrs Tutu.
On Friday, Archbishop Tutu will lie in state in St George’s Cathedral.
