Archbishop Desmond Tutu is stepping down from public life, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.

南非大主教德斯蒙德·图图结束了其公职生涯，庆祝他的79岁生日。

The man described as the "conscience" of South Africa was a prominent（突出的，显著的） voice during the country's struggle against white minority rule.

He has since been the voice of reconciliation¹（和解，调和） in a number of regional conflicts.

But the Nobel Peace prize winner now says he wants to make way for a new generation of leaders.

Archbishop Tutu is a man widely considered as a moral compass in South Africa, admired for his integrity and adored for his infectious（传染性的） laugh.

But now he is bowing out（退出，辞职） of public life.

As a young cleric back in the 1970s he was a vocal² critic of the apartheid（种族隔离） regime.

In the mid-1980s, still under white minority rule, he campaigned in the townships - on one occasion famously wading³ into the frontline to call for calm when a mob tried to lynch（处以私刑） a suspected undercover policeman.

He later went on to become the archbishop of Cape⁴ Town in 1986, and nearly a decade later chaired the Truth and Reconciliation commission - the body set up to investigate apartheid-era crimes.

In more recent times, he has been involved in conflict resolution, and has continued to court controversy⁵ - singling out leaders such as Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and Britain's Tony Blair for criticism.

He insists his departure aims to clear the way for new talent to blossom, but he remains⁶ a potent⁷ symbol of South African pride.